


Soultale

by randomclustermissile



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Mild Language, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-28
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-12-08 01:14:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 34
Words: 64,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11635896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randomclustermissile/pseuds/randomclustermissile
Summary: An Undertale AU where all the Seven Fallen Humans fall at the same time (and meet with the ghost of Chara)





	1. Once Upon A Time

'Are we there we yet?' Cody whined. 'My feet hurt'. Percy glared at him and Fiona gestured to her feet and Percy's feet, which bore no shoes.

'Oh stop your whinging.' Cissy scolded as she lightly punched her younger brother's arm.

'Look we don't have much longer to go. Besides, aren't you supposed to be the tough one?' She accused. Cody sighed and nodded.

'At least you can afford shoes.' Percy sighed, crestfallen. 'Well I know my father tries his best, I mean he bought this very nice shirt and pants for me!' He cheered, pointing to his own grey collared shirt and pants, both of which were torn and hadn't seen a washing machine in a long very time.

'Surely you can afford a shower?' Thomas teased, ruffling Percy's long and tangled blond hair.

'Oh leave him alone Thomas.' Fiona, the oldest, smiled sweetly.

'Look Fi!' Aurora, the youngest, squeaked, indicating towards Frisk, who had already reached the top of the mountain and was waving down at them.

'How can one little 8-year-old be so fast and so energetic?' Cissy inquired, very short of breath.

'Determination, my friend' Fiona winked at her. They all rolled their eyes, except for Aurora who was giggling with glee, her little sky blue dress flapping in the wind.

'Plus they haven't wasted any of their energy on talking.' Thomas added, adjusting his cowboy hat so it didn't blow off in the wind.

'Or whining!' Cissy teased, nudging her brother.

'Haha. Very funny.' Cody snarled sarcastically, raising his gloved fists.  
'

I don't think your sister deserves to be punched, don't y'all think?' Thomas said, hurrying over and pulling Cody aside. Suddenly, Percy screamed.

'Frisk!'

*

Frisk was nowhere to be found. A vine, uprooted slightly off the ground, suggested that Frisk had tripped and fallen down the famous and massive crevasse. The children started to panic and started talking all at once.

'OH MY GOD-'

'Don't say the Lord's name in vain-'

'WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO-'

'I say we jump in after them-'

'That's a stupid idea, you'll get us all killed-'

'Well we can't just leave them down there-'

'We have to stay here and wait for help-'

'They're probably dead-'

'We could form a human chain-'

'No way. That crevasse is way too deep-'

'EVERYONE PLEASE STOP TALKING!' Fiona yelled, bringing the uproar to an abrupt stop. She rubbed her forehead, and scratched her chin, which was still itchy from the moko she got a week ago.

'Let's sit down, and think.' Aurora suggested.

'That way we can come up with an idea together!'

'Good idea Aurora!' Fiona commended. 'Now one at a time.' She said, kneeling down, her grass skirt barely reaching her large, light brown knees. 'Cody! What do you suggest?'

'We have to jump after them!' Cody rushed, ready to jump in.

'Wait! Let us hear the others first. What about you Aurora?'

'I say we wait here for help. Eventually the grown-ups will come for us.'

'I'm with my brother.' Cissy frowned. 'We can’t leave them there alone.'

'I reckon,' Percy thought out loud, drawing a plan in his notebook. 'If we all joined together, Fiona at the top, Aurora at the bottom, by linking our arms around each other's legs, we'll be able to form a human chain to hoist Frisk out of the crevasse without falling in ourselves. You can use the vine as an anchor Fiona.'

' That's a very clever idea Percy.' Fiona said sweetly. 'But I'm afraid the crevasse is far too deep for it too work. I may be tall but Aurora is barely a metre tall at 6 years old. That crevasse is at least 10m deep.'  
Percy let out a defeated sigh and sank further into the log he was sitting on.

'Well what do you think Thomas?' Fiona asked kindly.

'Well… I-' Thomas hesitated. 'I don't know what I think. On the one hand, I want to go in after them. Frisk is my friend and I would never leave them behind. But on the other hand, I wouldn't want any of you to get hurt or trapped as well. You guys are all my friends. None of you deserve this.'

'There, there, Thomas. Come here.' Fiona soothed, bringing Thomas in for a hug.

'Thanks Fi.' Thomas breathed.

'Fiona you haven't said what you think. You're the adult after all.' Cissy said. Fiona sighed.

'I don't know love. I'm only 15 after all! I'm no adult.' The children all looked down, disappointed.

'Look!' Aurora cried, pointing down the hole. Everyone scrambled over and peered over the edge.

Frisk was holding up their trademark stick, waving it in the air. Everyone cheered.

'Are you alright Frisk?' Fiona shouted, her loud, booming voice echoing down the chasm. Frisk nodded and gave a thumbs up.

'Well that's settled. It seems Cody's idea was not so foolish after all.' Fiona beamed and gave Cody a hearty slap on his back.

'One at a time now come on. Give me a yell when you landed so I know you're okay.'

'Will do Mom!' Cody joked, and jumped in. 'Geronimoooo!'

There was a loud but soft thud, as if he landed on a cushion of some sorts. Then:

'I'm okay! There's some sort of flowerbed here which will cushion your fall!'

'Flowers?' Percy asked, puzzled. 'But there doesn't seem to be much light down there…'

'You next Cissy.' Fiona ushered Cissy closer to the edge.

'It'll be okay Sis! It's not much of a fall! You won't get hurt, I promise!' Cody shouted from the bottom. Cissy hesitated, then jumped in.

'Sitting Bull!' Thomas rolled his eyes at the pun. 'I made it!'

'Now you Percy.'

'I-I c-can't.'

'Oh come on, we all have to push forward don't we? Carry on?'

'Yes. You're right. I have to try.'

'That's the spirit! Off you go!' Percy took a run up, and leaped into the pit, with his eyes shut.

'Ow!' He cried.

'Alright Thomas. Hold on to your hat! I also suggest taking your gun out of your holster.'

'Good idea. The safety is on too.'

'Good. Off you go.'

'Alright. Let's go. Yeehaw!' Thomas vaulted into the pit, one hand on the gun, the other on his hat. A gunshot marked that he had landed safely.

'God knows what his parents were thinking, giving a revolver to a 13-year-old. Alright. Aurora. Your turn now.'

'C-can we jump together? I'm too scared.' Aurora quivered, clinging onto Fiona's large arm.

'Of course my darling!' Fiona stifled a giggle. 'Let's go!'


	2. Your Best Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet Chara. The somewhat irritable yet friendly ghost

Everyone cheered as the pair landed, with Fiona cradling Aurora so as to prevent her from hurting herself. Fiona got up, brushed the dust off her legs and smiled.

'So we're all here? Roll call! Aurora?'

'Here!' A squeaky voice giggled next to her.

'Cody?'

'Over here!' Cody yelled from down the corridor.

'Cissy?'

'Here!' She yelled from the same place.

'Percy!'

'P-present.' Percy groaned. He was lying on the ground about a metre from Fiona, clutching his chest, short of breath. Thomas was with him.

'Well Thomas is accounted for that's for sure. What seems to be the problem.'

'He winded himself when he landed.' Thomas said, holding onto Percy and lifting his head up.

'Got your inhaler?'

'I got it.' Thomas replied, holding up the inhaler and waving it. 'I've already given him some puffs. He should be right in a minute.'

'Right for the meantime, nobody is to move from here. Got it?'

'Got it!' Aurora squeaked.

'Aw fine. I hate waiting.' Cody said, and kicked a stone.

'It won't be long. Has anyone seen Frisk?' Fiona asked, suddenly concerned. They were nowhere to be seen.

Frisk appeared from underneath a rock formation which seemed to be some sort of arch/doorway. They were holding hands with what seemed like nothing at first, but as they came into view, Fiona recoiled in shock. Frisk seemed to have made friends with… a ghost?

'Frisk…' Fiona tried her best to keep calm.

'Who's your new friend?' She smiled sweetly, but on the inside she wanted to scream. Cissy and Aurora screamed, but Cody was laughing. Thomas was too busy looking after Percy to notice. Percy moaned again. Frisk tried to poke the ghost to get them to speak, but their finger passed right through them. Frisk and Aurora giggled. The ghost frowned. It didn't seem like it wanted to be there.

'Greetings.' The ghost finally said, in a bored tone. 'I am Chara.'

'Well it's very nice to meet you Chara.' Fiona smiled. 'I would shake your hand but it would just pass right through!' Fiona joked to lighten the mood. Everyone laughed, except Percy who just coughed, and sat up straight.

'Hilarious. You're too kind.' Chara said sarcastically. Fiona was taken aback by the ghost's rudeness, but let it slide.

'Well, everyone? Why don't you introduce yourself to our new friend here? I'm Fiona, the oldest. I am 15 years old, and I love cooking!'

'I'm Cody! I'm 10, and I love football and boxing!' He demonstrated a few jabs to the air.

'I'm Cissy!' She sang, 'I'm 11, and I love singing and dancing!' She pirouetted, then jumped and spun in midair. Chara seemed impressed. Percy stood up and walked over to the ghost.

'I-I'm Percy.' He stammered, taking off his glasses and wiping them. 'I'm 12, and I uh… like writing stuff down in my notebook? I don't know.'

'He also helps us make very important decisions. He's the smart one among us. We can always count on him to think of a way out of a sticky situation.' Fiona chimed in. Percy smiled weakly. Chara raised an eyebrow in interest.

'I'm Aurora!' She squeaked, much braver than before. 'I'm 6 years old and I love writing, drawing, and meeting new friends!' She tried to hug Chara, but she passed right through his torso. She looked disappointed. Chara frowned sadly.

'I'm Thomas, I'm 13, and I love rootin', tootin' and shootin'. Yee Haw!' Thomas whooped and spun his gun in his fingers, accidentally firing a bullet into the ground by his foot. Fiona glared at him. The gunshot echoed down the corridor. Chara laughed.

'And who's this mute? I haven't even heard them utter a single word. Like, at all.'

'This is Frisk, they are 8 years old, and they… well apart from making new friends and going on very dangerous adventures such as this I'm not sure what they like.'

'Let me guess, Frisk fell down first?' Chara asked.

'As a matter of fact they did.' Cissy piped up.

'Did you enjoy landing on my grave? I sure as hell didn't like being woken up.' Chara pointed to the flowers that everyone had used to cushion their fall.

'Oh my goodness! I am so sorry.' Fiona gasped.

'Meh. You didn't know. Nothing I can do about it now.' Chara shrugged and 'let go' of Frisk's hand.

'Hey look over here!' Cody pointed down an archway which led to a narrow hallway dimly lit by sunlight.

*

Everyone followed Frisk, who had ran ahead of Cody. Frisk bent down and looked at a tiny golden flower standing upright in the centre of the spotlight. Chara stayed back, disinterested.

'Howdy!' the flower suddenly said. Everyone jumped back, except for Frisk, who giggled.

'I'm Flowey! Flowey the flower!' Chara suddenly turned around. Hiding behind Fiona, they peered around from behind her to see the body to the voice they recognised.

'Hmmm. Y'all are new to the underground aren'tcha?' The little golden flower looked somewhat intimidated by the large crowd of children, but swallowed and stayed determined. 'Somebody ought to teach y'all how things work around here. I'm sure little old me will have to do.' Everyone crept closer, with Chara still hiding behind Fiona's large, sturdy body.

Suddenly, all the human children felt as if their hearts were being pulled out of their ribcage, and their SOULs started to glow their respective colours. Cody was Orange, Cissy was Blue, Thomas was Yellow, Fiona was Green, Aurora was Cyan, Percy was Purple, and Frisk was Red. Chara's SOUL did not glow.

'My SOUL….' Chara whispered, tears streaming down their face. 

'See that?' The Flower excitedly piped up, pointing a leaf at Frisk's glowing SOUL.

'That's your SOUL, the very culmination of your being.'

'We know what SOULs are, flower.' Thomas spat, one hand on his holstered gun and starting to feel very skeptical. 'What's your point?'

'Well my fellow yellow friend, your SOUL starts off weak, like yours are! But it can grow if you gain a lot of LV.'

'What's LV?' Cody asked.

'Why LOVE of course!' Flowey replied. 'You want some LOVE, don’t ya?' Everyone looked at each other nervously.

'Yeah I guess.' Cody said, who would never turn down the opportunity to get stronger.

'No this is a bad idea.' Cissy whispered to her brother. 'What if we turn out like our ancestors?'

'Down here, love is shared through.' Flowey explained, clearly ignoring Cissy's remark.

'Little white “Friendliness pellets”. Come on, walk around! Catch as many as you can!' White pellets flew around the room.

'Children don't touch them! They're dangerous!' Fiona said, gathering in Percy and Aurora. Frisk and Cody were having none of it. They ran and tried to catch the pellets. Suddenly, all the pellets flew into the glowing SOULs of Frisk and Cody. Their bodies flew into the wall and they collapsed, winded. Flowey turned on them.

'YOU IDIOTS. WHY WOULD ANYONE PASS UP AN OPPORTUNITY FOR FREE XP LIKE THIS?' Pellets surrounded the two weak children, as Flowey set up a barrier of pellets to stop the others.

'DIE.' Flowey laughed, the most evil and maniacal laugh the children had ever heard. 'In this world, it's KILL or BE KILLED! HAHAHAHAHAHA!'

Chara's eyes suddenly went wide, and they started to scream.


	3. Fallen Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toriel. Everyone's favourite Mum. Let's see how she welcomes 7 new children to her family, as well as her reconciliation with her deceased child.

*

'I CAN'T DO IT CHARA! THEY'RE INNOCENT PEOPLE! THERE'S TOO MANY OF THEM!'

'THEY'RE NOT INNOCENT ASRIEL, THEY'RE KILLING US! YOU HAVE TO USE YOUR FULL POWER. YOU HAVE TO KILL THEM ALL OR WE WILL DIE!'

'I CAN'T! I CAN'T EVEN TAKE THE LIFE OF SIX HUMANS, LET ALONE SIX HUNDRED!'

'YOU HAVE TO, ASRIEL! IN THIS WORLD, IT'S KILL OR BE KILLED!'

*

Suddenly, a huge fireball erupted down the corridor and struck the flower, uprooting it and knocking it over. The barrier of pellets fell to the ground. A large goat-like woman appeared, running over to Cody and Frisk.

'What a miserable creature, torturing such poor innocent youths!' She picked up the children and regrouped them.

'You saved our lives, who are you?' Fiona asked.

'Well, my children, my name is Toriel: Guardian of the Ruins. I haven't been here for quite some time, but I heard screaming and I came running over. Come my children! I will guide you through the catacombs!'

'Mom…' Chara called over, but she didn't seem to hear.

'You are the first children to fall here in quite a long time, and so many too! What are your names?'

'My name is Fiona, and this is Aurora, Thomas, Percy, Cody, Cissy, and Frisk.'

'Oh what lovely names! I think we are going to get on quite well.' She peered closely at Frisk. 'You know, you remind me of one I once knew. But that was a long time ago.'

'I'm right here, Mom.' Chara came around from behind Fiona, looking at the ground crying, clutching their heart-shaped locket in their hand.

'OH MY GOODNESS MY CHILD!' Toriel screamed, and ran over to hug the ghost, to no avail. Toriel fell to her knees and started to cry. 'My child… what has become of you?'

'Those damn humans, that's what.' Chara smiled weakly.

'Watch your language, child.' Toriel said in a stern voice, but smiled anyway.

'Who was the flower?' Percy asked. 'You screamed very loudly when they screamed,

'In this world, it's ki-'

'YES I KNOW WHAT THEY SAID.' Chara yelled, covering their ears. 'I-I can’t tell you about that right now. Not yet.'

'That is alright my child. That horrible creature, if I ever find them again, I will not give them the mercy I did before.' Toriel pounded her fist into her hand and snarled, her teeth baring. The children stared at her, wide-eyed. Toriel laughed. 'Do not worry my children, I will not harm you. Not every monster is like that awful flower. Anyway! Follow me! I will guide you through the Ruins back to my home, where you will stay for the remainder of your journey.'

'So that's your mother? How does that work-' Cody asked.

'Well of course they're not really my mother, they are a goat boss monster, and I am a human. But I fell here, as she said, long ago, and long story short, Toriel adopted me.'

'How did you fall down? Did you trip when you were climbing the mountain? Why were you alone?' Thomas asked, eyes narrowing on the ghost, untrusting. 'How did you die?'

'I-it's…' Chara gulped. 'It's a long story. I don't want to get into that now.'

'And you don't have to, my dear.' Fiona interjected. 'What matters is that you are here now - well as here as you can be anyway - and we'll be here to help you. Even your mother.'

'This way children!' Toriel sang, Frisk on her right hand and Aurora on the left. She led them through another archway and led to some sort of entrance hall - lined with broken pillars and loose bricks fallen from the purple walls. The whole scenery was quite beautiful. The children looked around in awe of the beauty.

'Yes it's quite remarkable isn't it? The Ruins, although small, do hold some beauty and wonders.' Toriel hummed a fast-paced tune. As Toriel walked through the Ruins, across life piles, through traps, monsters appeared from their little alcoves and sang along to the tune.

'Is this how the story begins, will these fallen children make us friends, or will they give in, kill us all, who knows when an angel will fall, we want to fly…'

'Woah who are these people?' Cody stared around in wonder

'Oh do not worry about them my children. They are just the small monsters of the Ruins, they will not harm you. They answer to me. You can leave your firearm in your holster, young Thomas.' Thomas, abashed by the accusation, slowly lifted his hand from his right hip and continued walking with his left arm around Percy, whose condition was still poor but improving.

'You have done, excellently my children.' Toriel led them to a long and narrow hallway.

'But I have some errands to attend to, so you must stay here by this pillar. Wait here.'

'What? For how long?' Cissy asked.

'An indefinite amount of time. I know! I will give you a cell-phone! If you need anything, just give me a call! Be good, alright?' And with that, she turned, and disappeared around the corner, leaving the children behind.

'Well now what? We just sit here?' Cody moaned.

'Yes.' Aurora squeaked. 'Remember what happened last time we went off searching?'

'Yes but that flower's gone now. Remember what she said? The monsters here answer to Toriel.'

'We stay here and that is final.' Thomas commanded. 'Besides, Percy needs a rest.' He turned to Percy.

'Y'all have done great. You're improving just dandy. You'll be fine in no time.'

'Thanks Thomas.' Percy croaked. 'I just wish she left us with some water.'

'Monsters don’t drink water.' Chara explained. Us humans are mostly made of water, but monsters are made of magic. They have no need to rehydrate themselves.'

'Well do they eat?' Cissy asked. 'I'm starving.'

'Oh yeah, without that they wouldn't have any energy to summon any magic. Their food just directly turns to magic when they eat it. It's some pretty impressive biology actually.' Chara said. 'Toriel will probably have books about it.'

'No thanks. That sounds boring.' Cody said, practicing his punches in the air.

'Also is someone watching the mute?' Chara raised an eyebrow.

'Oh no…' Fiona preemptively groaned, knowing what was coming. The children turned and found Frisk running down the hallway chasing a little butterfly monster, who appeared to be… crying?

'FRISK!' Fiona ran at fall pace, wincing as her bare feet trod on the stones. Frisk disappeared around the corner where Toriel had left them. 'Great. Just great. When will they learn? Well team, looks like we're on yet another adventure. FOLLOW FRISK!'

'OH HELL YES!' Cody whooped, punching the air.

'Watch your language, child.' Fiona, Cissy and Chara all said at the same time. They grinned at each other and giggled. Aurora giggled loudly and held onto Fiona's arm, jumping up and down. They all turned and ran down the hallway and around the corner.

'Croak croak, ribbit ribbit.' A frog piped up from next to them.

'Aww what's your name little guy?' Aurora bent down and waved to them.

'Ribbit ribbit. My name is Froggit. If you're looking for a human chasing Whimsun, they went around down that way.' The little frog pointed down towards the right, over a pile of leaves that had been clearly kicked up. 'Croak croak. Watch out for other monsters in the Ruins. If they try to attack you, try and ACT a certain way, or fight until you almost defeat them, and they may not want to fight you anymore. Creak woof meow.' The humans raised their eyebrows in surprise and confusion. 'If a monster doesn't want to fight you, please use some MERCY humans. Ribbit ribbit'

'We will little Froggit. Thank you!' Aurora petted the frog and the frog jumped away.

'That was weird.' Cissy said, shaking her head. 'Let's just keep going.'

'That's one of the nicest Froggits I have ever seen.' Chara said, floating in the direction of where the Froggit pointed. The humans stared at Chara oddly, frozen in place. 'What are you lot staring at? Don't you want to find Frisk?'

'Nothing Chara. Let's go.' Fiona smiled sweetly. 'Let's go!'

Below Chara's waist, two legs had started to grow, and their SOUL started to glow faintly in their chest.


	4. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened to Frisk? Where did they run off to this time? Who will they meet this time? And what happens when Cody starts missing his real family? How does seeing Toriel again affect Chara?

'Ewwwwww!' Frisk thought to themself. 'I don't like the smell of that cheese' Holding their nose as they walked past a lone table with a single piece of moudly cheese lying on a plate on top of it. A mouse hole lay across from it, which produced a squeaking noise from it's owner when Frisk stuck their stick inside it. Frisk giggled. It had been a great day for them. They talked (or rather just listened to and nodded every so often) to various little monsters, like the little frogs (whose names were apparently all Froggit, something that seemed to confuse Frisk a great deal) and the little butterfly whom Frisk had been chasing around. Whimsun, was it's name. It seemed to put up a great fuss when Frisk was only trying to have fun.

'Please stop chasing me.' It cried, tears streaming down it's little face. Eventually Frisk got bored, and left it alone. They were skipping along gleefully, filled with determination. Suddenly they approached a narrow corridor, which bore a pile of leaves. A person with a blanket was lying down on it. Frisk moved closer, to discover the person was not in fact a person, but a ghost.

'zzzzzzzzzzz' the ghost pretended to snore. 'are they gone yet....?' The ghost paused briefly, before continuing to pretend to snore. 'zzzzzzzzzzz'

Frisk, a little annoyed, picked up their stick, and tried to whack the ghost, only to find that the stick phased right through.

'owww.....' the ghost cried, sitting up and then floating in front of the confounded human child.

'oh no..... am I in your way.... i'm sorry..... um hold on....' The ghost seemed to be stalling, unsure of whether or not it wanted to move.

'my name's napstablook by the way.... just in case... you.... wanted to know....' Frisk smiled at the ghost, and spelt their name in the air.

'ooohhhhh..... hello.... umm.... Frisk....' The ghost once again hesitated, and tears started to stream down their face, falling onto the dead leaves before. 'oh my goodness... i'm sorry.... I don't know why i'm crying.... i'm sorry.... i'll just-' Suddenly, Fiona rushed in, with the other 5 humans (and one ghost) in tow. Upon seeing the ghost, Fiona froze in her tracks, causing the others to bump into her, and Chara to phase through all of them.

'Oooohhhhhh' they all cried from the sudden cold.

'Sorry.' Chara mumbled.

'oohhhh... are t-these your f-f-friends.... ohh.... I didn't know....' Napstablook stammered, embarrased at the sudden invasion.

'Oh it's quite alright, my dear ghosts.' Fiona reassured both Napstablook and Chara. 'How do you do? My name is Fiona, and this is Aurora, Thomas, Cissy, Cody, Percy, Chara, and you have already met Frisk I see.'

'Fellow ghost. At your service!' Chara stuck out their hand, pleased to finally meet someone who can touch them too. 'Oh.' Chara sighed, disappointed, discovering that Napstablook did not in fact, have any arms.

'ooohhh..... i'm sorry.... I don't have arms...'

'It's quite alright my fellow incorporeal friend!' Chara smiled, putting their arms around the crying ghost in a tight hug.

'oooh... are you... hugging me? That's nice.... but... I can't hug back... no arms and all...'

'That's perfectly okay friend!' Chara seemed to be ecstatic to finally have someone to empathise with.

'hey... can I... show you guys something....?' Napstablook asked nervously.

'Sure!' Everyone cried in unison. Frisk nodded enthusiastically.

'okay... here goes:' Napstablook's crying intensified, tears streaming harder, except this time they seemed to falling.... upwards? The tears set on his head, and moulded together into a beautiful top hat.

'I call it dapper-blook... do you like it...'

'Wow! That's amazing!' Chara awed, their mouth in the shape of an o. 'Isn't it guys?' Chara asked the crowd, whose jaws had dropped so hard they were scraping the floor.

'It's beautiful' Aurora finally said.  
'ooohhhh... thank you... I usually come by here cause there's nobody around... but today I met some new friends.... which is nice... thank you... i'll be out of your way...' And with that, the ghost faded and vanished.

'Well that was certainly something.' Fiona said, clapping her hands together. 'Right children! And ghost, off we go!' Fiona grapsed Frisk's hand tightly. 'You're staying right here with me. I don't want you running off again. Understand?' Frisk nodded and smiled innocently. Fiona sighed and rolled her eyes. 'What am I going to do with you, child.'

'Well the important thing now is that we find Toriel. We should probably continue forward. It's been a while since she left us by the pillar.' Thomas said.

'Yes. Too true. Excellent notion, Thomas.' Fiona thanked.

'Excellent notion, Thomas.' Percy mocked in a aristocrical English accent. Thomas laughed and put Percy in a headlock.

'It's not nice to make fun of people, you little twerp.' Thomas noogied. Cissy giggled at the sight of the two.

'Let's keep moving guys!' Cody gestured excitedly down the corridor.

They came into a room full of pillars. Beside two of the pillars lay a button each: One green and one red. The way out was blocked by a spike trap. On the wall opposite the red button was a sign which read: 'If you can read this, press the blue switch.'

'The blue switch? Where on Ebott is the blue switch?' Cissy scracted her head.

'Behind this pillar! Over here!' Percy motioned to a pillar behind them. Everyone came rushing over, and sure enough, there lay a blue button.

'Well done Percy!' Thomas congratulated, offering a hi-five, which Percy had to jump up to hi-five back.

'We must have walked right past it.' Cissy shook her head. 'Silly us.'

'Hey I totally saw it! I was just testing you.' Cody sniggered.

'Liar!' His sister retorted, sticking out her tongue at him.

'Come on guys!' Aurora hurried the group through the archway. They came to a grassy area with a path created by stones and gravel. They followed the path, and they came to a large tree with red leaves surrounding it's trunk. A familiar voice rang in the distance

'Oh dear. That took longer than I thought. I'd better go check on the humans.' Toriel hurried around from behind the tree and almost ran right into Frisk.

'Oh! My children! Why in the underground did you come here by yourself? You must have been so terrified! Are you hurt? There there I will heal you-'

'Toriel!' Cissy interjected. 'We're fine!' She pointed to her whole body. 'See? Nothing! We're fine!'

'But what is that delicious smell?' Fiona raised an eyebrow.

'Oh yes! My children! I wanted to welcome you to your new home! I made you all butterscotch pie!'

'New home?! But we-' Cody started, only to have his mouth covered by Cissy.

'Sounds lovely! We can't wait!' Cissy hesitated. 'You need to learn to shut your damn mouth, brother.' She scolded her sibling. He hmmphed.

'Now I wasn't expecting this many people at once,' Toriel explained. 'But I'm sure I will be able to accommodate you all. It won't be easy but-'

'Thank you Toriel. This is absolutely fantastic.' Fiona interrupted.

'Well! I'm glad you like it! Anything I can do for my new – and old – children.' She smiled at Chara, who smiled back.

'Let's go check out our new rooms!' Cody bounced up and down excitedely.

'This way!' Toriel lead the children into the hallway to the bedroom.

'This is it! Sorry it isn't much.' She sniffed the air. 'Is something burning? Well make yourself at home!' She said hurriedly, running down the hall towards the kitchen. Frisk reached for the doorknob, only to be intercepted by Chara.

'Umm... Can I? I mean this place was never my home but- It looks so similar...'

'Sure honey. Take as much time as you need.' Fiona said kindly. Chara hesitated, then opened the bedroom door. They walked into the bedroom, and sank.

'It's... exactly the same... except the wallpaper is yellow not grey... and there's only one bed...' Chara struggled to hold back tears.

'Asriel...' they whispered as they sat down on the bed.

'Oh look at these cool toys!' Cody rushed in and picked up a little stuffed goat. Chara turned and glared at them, a very menacing, evil glare. Cody's face went white.

'Umm... well they didn't interest me at all anyway.' Cody hesitated, shakily putting the stuffed animal down and backing out the room.

'Is it alright if I come in?' Fiona asked.

'Yes please. I need a little bit of company.'

'Alright then. Children, go exploring. Toriel might also need some help in the kitchen.' Fiona closed the door behind her, isolating herself with Chara. 'Is there anything you want to talk about? This room seems very important to you.'

'Well this isn't exactly my home. This must be the old home that Mom and Dad had in the Ruins. My home was in the capital and it seems to be... an exact replica of this one... with some little differences.' Chara picked up the stuffed goat that Cody had grabbed. 'This must have been Asriel's bed when he was little.' Chara laughed slightly.

'Asriel?'

'Toriel's biological son, and my adoptive brother.'

'Oh. And what happened to him? Has he left home now? How old is he?'

'I'm afraid it's not that simple.' Chara explained, their voice all quiet.

'Oh. I see. I'm so sorry.' Fiona moved her hand to put it on Chara's shoulder, but didn't.

'Monsters can't become ghosts. So he is long dead.'

'I'm so sorry. This all must be very difficult for you to cope with. Seeing all this... again.'

'There's something else, too.'

'Yes?'

'It's about the flower.' The reminder of the traumatic experience made Fiona shudder.

'Well? What about it?'

'Well... something they said... it reminded me of something... Percy mentioned it to me earlier... When the flower said “Kill or Be Killed”, I- I too once said that.'

'Oh. To whom?'

'To A-'

'Children! How are we all? You have not yet had your pie! Eat it while it's still warm!' Toriel burst in, beaming and carrying two plates of butterscotch pie. 'When you are ready, the children are waiting for you in the living room!'

'Later then.' Chara said, picking up their butterscotch pie (which they couldn't eat) and floated into the next room. Fiona couldn't help but noticing that Chara's features had grown less transparent, and knees had begun to form under their ghostly thighs. Fiona followed, and sat down at the table with the younger children, who were drawing.

'When can we go home?' Cody asked. The room fell dead silent. Snap! A crayon snapped in Frisk's hand and scattered across the floor. Snap! The book Toriel was reading was shut suddenly and loudly.

'I'm sorry, what did you say?' Toriel asked.

'When can we go home?' Cody repeated. Ignoring Cissy's pleas.

'My child, this is your home now. Would you like to hear about the book I'm reading? It's called “72 Uses for Snails”!' Toriel smiled, feigning excitement.

'We'd love to!' Cissy replied through gritted teeth.

'Well then. Did you know, that snails...' She paused for effect. 'Make terrible shoelaces? Interesting is it not?'

'But how do we leave the Ruins? We need to get home to our parents.' Cody begged, despite his own guilt and doubt.

'I have to do something.' She put the book down and got up from her seat. 'Stay here.' She said sternly. Naturally all the children followed her, out the room and down the stairs.

'You wish to know how to return home, do you not?' Toriel asked. Nobody dared speak. Toriel hmphed. 'Ahead of us lies the end of the Ruins. A one-way ticket out of this wretched place.' The children gulped, but continued forward, with Chara desperately trying to pull the others back upstairs, to no avail.

'I am going to destroy it. No-one will ever be able to leave here. I cannot lose another like I have my two children. Please, go upstairs.' The children carried on forward. 'You naive children. If you leave here, if you exit the Ruins, they, ASGORE, will kill you. I am only trying to protect you all. Do you not understand? Go to your room.'

'What are you talking about Mom? Dad wouldn't hurt anyone.'

'Your father has taken it upon himself to kill every human who falls into the underground. That is why I am here. Alone. He's even started an army. The fool has started a war he cannot win.'

'Wasn't that our plan all along? To let the monsters rule the surface in peace?'

'That, Chara, is your father's plan. My plan is to let each race live in harmony.'

'You're the fool, thinking that the humans would ever accept the monsters back into their lives. It's one race or the other. You know that.'

'I don't know anything anymore. I do know one thing, and that is you should not continue forward if you want to live. Go back to your room.'

'No Mom. We will continue.' Chara suddenly had a change of heart.

'Then I'm afraid there is only one solution to this.' She stopped by the door, a fireball growing in her hand. 'Prove yourself.' She turned and raised her arms in combat. 'Prove to me you are strong enough to survive.'


	5. Heartache

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toriel?! How could you?! What will become of the children facing this powerful fire-throwing monster?!

'WHOOSH!' The fireball erupted down the corridor and barrelled towards the children. They all turned away from the blast and bowed down to avoid the immense heat. They would have all been engulfed, had Fiona not deflected the blow with her large frying pan.

'Please stop Toriel! You don't have to do this!' She yelled through the flames.

'You chose this path my child! Now fight me or leave!'

'We will not fight! We will not submit! This can all be avoided if you just let us go!'  
'YOU'LL DIE OUT THERE ALONE!'

'YOU'RE KILLING US NOW!'

'THEN FIGHT!'

'NEVER!' Fiona stood guard. She held her pan up like a shield. Her long black hair got singed from the subsequent blasts. She stepped back slightly. She was faltering. She could feel her grip slipping. She stood firm.

'FIONA! STAND DOWN! I'LL HANDLE THIS!' Thomas stood by her side, pushing her back.

'NO! I CAN HANDLE THIS' Gripping her pan even tighter and edging forward.

'SHE'S TOO STRONG FOR YOU ON YOUR OWN! AT LEAST LET ME HELP!'

Toriel screamed as she threw a fireball at Thomas. He turned around to shield his face from the blast. The fire burned at his back and he dropped to the ground. He screamed in pain.

'THOMAS!' Percy screamed. 'YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!' He turned to Toriel. Tears streamed down his face, evaporating in the heat. Percy charged forward towards Toriel.

'Stand aside, child!' Toriel screamed. She struck him across the face with the back of her hand. He flew towards the wall and crumpled to the ground. He struggled, then fall back to the ground. He didn't get back up.

'PLEASE TORIEL! PLEASE STOP! NONE OF US DESERVE THIS!' Cissy yelled, absorbing the blows.

'WE WILL STAND GROUND. WILL NOT FIGHT.' Her brother added, raising his arms in defence.

'EVEN IT MEANS STANDING HERE FOREVER!' Aurora finished, pushing to the front. The children now formed a line in front of Toriel, hands over their faces, taking the fiery beating.

'Mother, please. Cease this pointless battle.' Chara comforted Toriel, resting their arm on the air above their mother's fur. Frisk broke free from the defense and hugged Toriel.

'Why? Why will you not fight back?' Toriel lowered her arms, not returning the hug. 'Why must you persist, yet not fight?' Toriel's back hunched lower. 'ANSWER ME!' She screamed at all the children.

'Please mother. I am pleading with you.' Chara drew themselves to Toriel's great height. 'Please let us go.' Toriel sank to the ground, defeated.

'I know you want to go home... but...' Toriel hesitated, walking over to Percy and picking him up. 'Please. Go upstairs now. I promise you children, we can have a good life here.' She cradled Percy's unconscious body, tears streaming from her cheeks onto his face. She looked up, and saw that the children had inched further, still maintaining their formation. Frisk sat beside Toriel, their legs crossed and one arm around Toriel's back. They smiled, and said nothing.

'Pathetic is it not?' Toriel stifled a weak laugh. 'I can't even save the life of a single child. Let alone seven.' She sighed and leaned against the massive door. 'I couldn't even save my own children. Biological or not.' She turned to Chara. 'I'm so sorry you had to experience whatever you had to experience. It's not your fault you got sick.

'Actually... it is. I ate the buttercups. I deliberately made myself very ill. I made Asriel cross the barrier.'

'Why in the underground-'

'We were trying to free everyone. I said we, together, would collect 6 human SOULs from living humans, then we would come back and destroy the barrier.'

'So that is why you agree with your father.'

'Yes mother. Asriel and I realised that even if the barrier broke using Dad's current method, the humans would not welcome us back. The fools thought that Asriel had killed me, and thus attacked us with everything they had, not knowing that I too, was an entity present in Asriel's body.'

'My child I am so sorry...' Toriel put out her paw onto the air surrounding Chara's face. Ghostly tears streamed down their transparent face. 'You should have told us...'

'You would have tried to stop us. You would have put a stop to us. And I know this. Look what you have done now. You have almost tried to kill us to prevent us from being killed by your ex-husband.' Chara pointed out.

'Yes. I'm sorry. You're right. I should not have expected all of you to live here.' Toriel looked down at Percy, who began to open his eyes. 'I am so sorry Percy. You really are quite the fighter aren't you?'

'His trait is Perserverance for a reason.' Thomas beamed.

'Can you sit up child?' Toriel asked.  
'Y-yeah I think so. Ow!' Percy stroked their left cheek where Toriel had hit him. It stung painfully.

'Oh my goodness I am so sorry my child- I never meant to hurt-'

'It's okay Toriel. I'm fine.' Percy sat up and rejoined the others.

'I should have not expected you all to live here with me. It was foolish. The Ruins get very small once you're used to them and you'd all be unhappy here. My expectations, my lonliness, my fear, for you, my children, I will put them aside. My children, please be good, alright? I love all of you, and I will miss all of you, my children.' She bent down, and hugged Frisk, then all the children. 'The door in front of you will lead you out of the Ruins, but there is something I must ask of you before you leave.'

'Anything Toriel.' Cissy placed her hand on Toriel's shoulder. Toriel shook it off.

'You must never return here.'

'What? Why on Ebott not?' Cody demanded.

'Please. You must understand. The door will not allow you in, no matter how much you knock. It can only be opened from this side, and it is open to no-one on the other end. I am sorry. Please forgive me for this. I hope you understand.'

'We do Toriel. It'll be okay. We love you too.' Cissy gave Toriel another big hug, and lead the other children through the massive doors.

'Goodbye, my children.' Toriel farewelled. And with that, she turned, and walked away.

*

The children walked down the hallway, which progressively got darker, darker, yet darker as they walked. They walked through the vast archway to a grassy area, which cued a horrible, familiar voice.

'I bet you feel really great. You all spared the life of a single person!' Flowey laughed condescendingly.

'What do you want, weed?' Thomas scowled, one hand on his right hip.

'Woah there! Slow down there pardner!' Flowey mocked Thomas' accent. 'Let me finish.'

'Two minutes, flower.' Cissy tapped on her wrist at a watch that wasn't there.

'Oh how kind of you darling.' Flowey said sarcastically, clasping the two big leaves on his small stem together. 'So you spared the life of a single person.' Flowey repeated. 'But what would you do if you met a relentless killer?' Flowey grinned, sending shudders down the children's spine. 'You'll die and you'll die and you'll die! Until you tired of trying! Ahahahahah!' Flowey's laugh echoed down the corridor, and Aurora started to cry. 'Awww! Poor little angel!'

'Leave her alone.' Fiona said. 'You have one minute before we stomp on you.'

'Alright then Big Friendly Giantess.' Flowey smirked. 'I am the Prince of the world's future!' Chara shuddered, hiding behind Percy at the back, so that the flower couldn't see them. 'Don't worry little monarchs! My plan isn't regicide! This is so much more interesting! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!' Flower laughed his most evil laugh yet, then sank into the earth below.

'What does regicide mean?' Aurora asked as the children pushed open the massive door out the Ruins. Chara stopped. The air went cold. The snow crunched. The trees wailed in the wind.

'It's... well...' Chara trailed off.

'It means Flowey is going to kill the king.' Percy finished.


	6. Sans and Papyrus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who are these two quirky skeletons? And what is this 'Royal Guard' business? How do the children cope in the harsh wintery cold? Are the children's lives in danger?

Frisk gulped. They looked worried. Their knees started to shake. This unusual behaviour took Fiona by surprise. No-one else seemed to notice.

'That's strange.' She thought. 'Frisk has never acted like this before.' She frowned and continued walking, the snow crunching on her bare feet. 'I have never seen them show any signs of fear and concern like this - like - ever. The underground has changed them.'

Frisk seemed to read her mind, and turned to her. They reached up and tugged at Fiona's grass skirt as they walked.

'What is it, Frisk?' Fiona smiled sweetly down at the frightened child. They pointed behind them, back where they had just come from. Fiona stopped and turned around, cueing everyone else to do the same. Nothing. Nothing but snow and the large purple double doors they had just came through.

'There's nothing there sweetie.' Fiona reassured Frisk, playing with their hair. They smiled slightly, but still remained unsure.

'Hey check out this stick!' Cody pointed at a large brance that lay along the path ahead of them. 'I'm gonna try and break it!' He laughed excitedly, jumpin up and down on the branch. It stood firm. 'Huh. It's a pretty tough-looking branch.' He tried to lift it up.

'HHHNNNNGGGHHHH!' He struggled, 'It's too heavy to pick up.' The other children stepped over the branch and continued walking, towards a large gate overhanging a small wooden bridge.

'CRACK!' Came a noise from behind the children. They all stopped and whipped around. There was nothing there.

'The stick!' Cissy cried, running over to the massive branch. 'It's been smashed like it was nothing!' Sure enough, the large branch that could withstand the weight of both Frisk and Cody combined had been completely shattered by some unknown force.

'L-let's j-j-just k-keep walking.' Thomas stammered, backing up slightly. He turned around and walked rapidly towards the gate, as if it were a save point in a video game. The other children followed at a similar haste. Their pace quickened. Sweat poured down their face, despite the cold. They started hyperventilating. They could hear footsteps. Behind them. Closer. Closer. Closer. Until-

'Humans.' A deep voice called. The children froze in their tracks. The bridge was just a metre in front of them. 'Don't you know how to greet a new pal?' He spoke slowly, menacingly. 'Turn around and shake my hand.' The children all gulped. Cissy turned around slowly. The others daredn't move. The strange man stuck out a gloved hand. His posture was squat. He was very short and his facial features were hidden by the shadow of the trees. Cissy, summoning her bravery, took it in a tight handshake.

'PPPPPBBBBPPPPPTTTTTT!' A loud flatulent noise erupted from the glove. Everyone fall on the floor laughing, except Cissy, who blushed, very embarrassed.

'Hehehehhheee.' The strange man giggled, very pleased with himself. 'The old whoopee-cushion in the hand trick. It's always funny.' He spoke with a thick accent, like a cross between Boston and New York. 'The name's Sans. I'm supposed to be watching for humans right now, but I don't really feel like capturing anybody.' He shrugged.

'That's umm... Good to hear.' Thomas murmured, still skeptical of the mysterious man.

'Go right through this gate thingy. Yeah go right through. My brother made the bars too wide to stop anyone.' He stepped forward into the light, and the children were shocked to see that the man was a skeleton. He was wearing an odd set of clothes, a blue hoodie unzipped, exposing his bare ribcage. He wore black gym shorts with white stripes down the sides and a pair of light-blue open-heeled slippers on his bare feet.

'Brother?' Aurora asked, puzzled but no longer afraid of the strange skeleton.

'Oh yeah. My brother, Papyrus. He's a human hunting FANATIC. Actually I think that's him over there. Quick! Hide behind the conveniently-placed pile of rocks.' Sans pointed to a pile of mossy, snow-covered rocks next to a sentry station. They seemed to have been placed there deliberatley. The children scrambled through the gate and hid behind it, fearful of this strange, new,' Papyrus' character.

'Wassup bro?' Sans asked as a tall, lean skeleton walked – or rather strolled quickly – over to Sans.

'You know what's 'up' brother!' He spoke loud and nasally, which was odd, considering he didn't have a nose. His attire was even stranger to that of his brother's. He wore a white chestplate with a symbol on the left breast, a pair of bright red boots that went halfway up his legs, a pair of blue shorts that seemed to resemble underwear, and a long red cape which flapped behind him in the cool breeze. 'It's been eight days and you still haven't recalibrated your puzzles! You just sit outide your station! What are you even doing?!' Papyrus accused. He was much taller, depsite being the younger brother, and towered over Sans immensely.

'Staring at these rocks.' Sans responded, leaning against the massive pile. 'It's really cool. Wanna look?'

'I don't have time for that Sans! I must capture a human! I must be the one! I will capture a human! Then I will get all the things I utterly deserve!'

'Who does this guy think he is-' Cody whispered noisily.

'Sssshh!' His sister hissed. She put a finger to her lips and scowled at him.

'I will bathe in a shower of kisses every morning!' Papyrus continued his soliloquy. Frisk giggled and pretended to make a kissy-face.

'Well maybe this pile of rocks will help you.' Sans suggested, gesturing his head towards the rocks he was leaning on.

'Shut up Sans.' Thomas growled through gritted teeth.

'Sans you are not helping! You lazybones!'

'I wish he would quiet down.' Aurora whispered, covering her ears.

'All you do is sit and boondoggle!'

'Hey hey! I've gotten a ton of work today.' Sans straightened himself up and walked towards his brother, his hands in his pockets. 'A skele-ton!' He turned and winked at the pile of rocks. The younger children giggled. Cissy and Thomas rolled their eyes. The tall skeleton sighed.

'Why must someone as great as me have to do so much to get some rrrecognition!' His r's rolled and echoed around the snowy forest. Aurora covered her ears again and tried not to cry. Fiona pulled her into her lap to help block out Papyrus' shrill voice. Sans could hear Aurora and gulped.

'S-sounds like you're really working yourself down to the bone..' Sans winked again at the pile of rocks. Aurora giggled again, which seemed to satisfy Sans. Papyrus glared for a second at the pile of rocks, before turning back to Sans.

'Ugh! I'm going back to my puzzles. As for your work, put a little more...' Papyrus smirked. 'Backbone into it! Nyeh heh heh heh heh heh heh! Heh...' His laugh died off as he walked away from the scene.

'Come on out guys! It'll be okay now. He's gone.'

'I don't like your brother Sans.' Thomas emerged first from the pile of rocks, frowning and straightening his hat.

'He's loud!' Aurora complained, still covering her ears.

'And obnoxious!

'And arrogant!' Cissy and Cody said at the same time.  
'Hey hey hey! Leave my brother alone, will ya? I know he can be a little... well... overbearing at times but-'

'That's one way to look at it-' Thomas interrupted, rolling his eyes.

'I'm. Not. Finished.' Sans growled, glaring at Thomas. 'But once you get to know him, you'll soon find out that he in fact is a really swell guy. All he is doing is trying his best. It's more than I can say about myself.' Sans looked sort of sad for a second, then shrugged it off and smiled. 'Come on kids! Lighten up! Papyrus won't hurt you! Even if he tries!' Sans smiled and the children seemed to be reassured. 'Just continue along this way. I'll meet you up ahead.' Sans walked off. 'Oh hey before I go,' he stopped and turned around. 'My brother's been kind of down lately. He has never seen a human before, let alone 7, and seeing y'all would just make his day. Thanks a million. I'll be up ahead.' And with that, he turned, and walked away.

'He just walked in the opposite direction.' Percy pointed out. Frisk shrugged.

'There's bottles of ketchup and mustard in here.' Cody piped up from behind Sans' station, holding up a squeezy sauce bottle in each hand. One red, one yellow.

'Put that down, Cody!' Fiona hissed. 'That's his private property!'

'Ok jeez.' Cody put them down and ran to join the others.

'Come on you guys! We better be careful! I'm sure my Dad's army will be patrolling this area if Sans has a sentry station and Papyrus is trying to capture humans!' Chara hurried everyone along.

The children continued walking through the snow, shivering. It seemed to get colder, and colder, and colder. They found a snowman who asked them to bring a piece of them to, 'The ends of the earth'. Confused, they agreed, and the lump of snow sat in Frisk's sweater pocket, unmelting.

'Snowdin town is to the east. Keep walking east until you reach it. You can't miss it. It's just before Waterfall.'

'Thank you!' Aurora called. A little dog in a battle outfit, carrying a sword, ran past. They seemed to be on the hunt for something.

'That's your Dad's army?' Thomas asked the ghost. 'They're so tiny!'

'I'm sure that's just a part of the smaller canine unit.' Chara answered casually. 'Not everyone will be that small.'

'It's a stone dogger, made of pomegranite.' Cissy read off the sword's blade as it ran past. She giggled at the awful set of puns. 'That's good. I like that.'

'What is it with this place and puns?' Percy asked. 'Is it the cold?' Percy shook his head. 'I don't know.' He followed Thomas up a slight hill towards an area overhanging a cliff, down to their right, a patch of snow had been kicked up slightly, showing a line of stones which seemed to form a map of some kind.

'Okay so now we're getting into the puzzles.' Fiona said. 'Percy?'

'On it.' Percy answered. 'The switch is over to the left.' Percy ran and pressed it.  
'There! That takes care of the spike trap. Let's go!' They walked forward, but their path was blocked by two very large dogs, carrying very large axes.

'What's that smell?' One of them asked in a ruff voice.

'Where's that smell?' The other asked, in a slightly less-ruff voice.

'If you're a smell...' The first dog warned.

'Identify yoursmellf!' The other finished.  
The weird dogs circled the humans, sniffing the air.

'There's that weird smell.' The first dog snarled. 'It makes me want to eliminate.'  
'ELIMINATE YOU!'


	7. Dogsong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh! Looks like the children are in a Spot of bother! ...Geddit? Cause Spot is a dog's name and- ahem.

The dogs pulled off their hoods and kissed each other, their noses rubbing. The children all made a face. The dogs kep shifting their axes to protect each other. On the handles bore the names of the dogs wielding them. 'Dogamy' read the male dog's axe. 'Dogaressa' read the female dog's axe. The children looked at each other and shook their heads at the strange sight. Suddenly, their axes swung downwards towards the children, and they had to sidestep to avoid being chopped in half by the oversized axes.

'What do we do?' Aurora shrieked, barely avoiding a swing from Dogamy.

'Umm umm...' Percy thought, flicking through his notebook. 'I know! Everyone roll around on the ground.'

'Why?' Cissy asked.

'Just do it!' Percy replied, ducking to avoid Dogaressa's deadly blade. The children all fell to the ground and started rolling around in the snow. The dogs stopped, and sniffed at the air.

'Where did they go?' Dogamy growled. 'I can't smell them anymore!'

'I can only smell small, lost puppies!' Dogaressa cried. Looking directly at the muddy children, who smiled back, frighetened. Frisk went up and petted Dogamy on his face.

'What?!' Dogamy yelped. 'I didn't know dogs...'

'Could pet other dogs!' Dogaressa finished for him, now being stroked by a very scared Cody. The children all went up and took turns to hug and pet the giant beasts.

'You have expanded our minds, kids!' Dogamy beamed.

'Thanks, weird puppies!' Dogaress called. And with that, they turned around and marched away, leaving the children all very confused.

'How on Ebbot did you know to do that?' Chara asked, tilting their head and looking straight at Percy.

'Well the dogs couldn't see us properly, they had to sniff the air to smell us. I'm guessing us humans have a specific smell and that's why they were able to single us out. I thought if we could smell like the environment around them, they wouldn't sense us.' Percy smiled and jotted some notes down in his notebook.

'I didn't think they would detect us as puppies though.'

'It all worked out in the end. Thanks to you Percy.' Fiona beamed at Percy.

'Yeah I'm proud of ya, man.' Thomas ran over and hugged Percy from behind, giving him a noogie, ruffling up his already messy blond hair.

'Hey stop it!' Percy laughed.

'Hey what's this?' Cissy and Cody had already walked on ahead. They were reading a sign in front of two large buttons on the ground, marked with an X.

'Turn every X into an O, then press the switch.' Cody read.

'Sounds simple enough.' Cissy said, and walked over the blue X. It flickered and changed into a red O. 'Oh!' She cried happily. She walked around the rocks and stepped on the other X. She then walked around again and stood on the button, which was sitting behind the sign.

'Click!' the spike trap disappeared, and the children walked across.

'Well that was easy.' Thomas murmured.

'Wait a second... is that-' Cody narrowed his eyes at the table in front of them

'Spaghetti?' Aurora asked excitedly. The children all run over, and found a plate of spaghetti in between a microwave and a note.

'What does the note say?' Thomas asked, peering over Percy's shoulder.

'It says...' Percy read, wiping his glasses on his shirt before reapplying them. 'Humans! Please enjoy this spaghetti. Little do you know that this spaghetti is a trap, designed to entice you! You will be so busy enjoying it, you won't even realise you aren't progressing! Thoroughly japed again by the very famous Royal Guardsman! (Note: Not yet a very famous Royal Guardsman). Yours Nyehfully, Papyrus.' Percy dropped his hand by his side, the note still firmly grapsed in it. Thomas shook his head.

'That poor man.' He sighed, genuinely sympathetic.

'Well the spaghetti was a bust anyway.' Fiona said. 'The spaghetti is so frozen, it's stuck to the plate on the table.' She pointed to the microwave. 'No plug either.'

'I guess we'll just have to leave it then.' Thomas shrugged.

'Aww man!' Aurora moaned. She liked spaghetti. It was her favourite food.

'Come now!' Fiona said, placing her hand on Aurora's shoulder. 'I'm sure if you ask Papyrus nicely, he might cook you some spaghetti!'

'Yay!' Aurora clapped her hands with glee. Frisk had once again found a mousehole and was poking their stick inside it, making the mouse squeak.

'Oh leave it alone, Frisk' Fiona scolded, with kindness in her voice. Frisk stood up and rejoined the others, a big grin on their face, very pleased with themself. Fiona rolled her eyes at them. 'I don't know what I'm going to do with you child.' Frisk only giggled, and grabbed her hand, swinging it as they walked. Papyrus was waiting for them.

'How in Snowdin did you get past my trap? And did you leave any for me?'

'Umm... yes!' Fiona lied. 'Lots of it! It was very nice too wasn't it kids?'

'Mmm yes, very nice.' The children all agreed, nodding their heads with fake enthusiasm.

'Well! Thank you! No-one has ever enjoyed my cooking before!'

'Or anything from you for that matter.' Thomas muttered under his breath.

'Hush!' Fiona told him, hitting him lightly on the arm.

'Anyway! How do I say this... umm... You took a long time to arrive so, I rearranged the puzzle to look like my face! But before I could change it back, the snow froze to the ground. Now the solution is different!' Papyrus stood proud between two trees near the edge of the cliff. 'Feel free to try the puzzle yourself. I'll try not to give away the answer!' His voice had seemed to quiet down. It seemed as if Sans had talked to his brother since their last encounter, when Papyrus had first seen them.

'Seems simple enough!' Cissy smirked arrogantly. 'You just go here, then here, then-'  
'You're trapped Cissy. You have to walk over the O's to get out.' Cody giggled.

'Oh drats!' Cissy stomped. She walked over the O's, turning them into green triangles.

'Press the switch Cody.' He obeyed, and they tried again.

'Got it!' Cissy cried. 'Press the switch so I can get out.' Cody ran and jumped onto the switch.

'Oh wow! You solved it already! And you did it all without my help! I'm impressed!' Papyrus beamed. 'You must enjoy puzzles just as much as I do!' Papyrus seemed almost flattered, and took off. Sans was standing on the other side of the spike trap.

'Good job on solving it so quickly. You didn't even need my help.' Sans winked at the two black siblings. 'Which is great, cause I love doing absolutely nothing. Anyway, Snowdin Town is not too far from here. I think it's another couple of puzzles before we get there. Certainly no more than three. Welp be seeing you.' and Sans walked off.

'Three?!' Cissy moaned. 'I'm sick of puzzles!.'

'Yeah me too.' Cody sighed.

'Me three!' Aurora squeaked. Frisk giggled.

'Let's keep going. The sooner we get this over with, the better.' Thomas said, leading the way. They kept running into more dogs, and more puzzles. Aurora managed to get them out of a sticky situation, just by standing still.

'S-s-s-something pet me, s-s-s-something that i-i-isn't m-m-moving.' A dog, no taller than Fiona, shuddered, and ran off.

'See? Sometimes you just have to stand still and wait.' Aurora laughed, and skipped along, just stopping before she slipped on the ice in front of her.

'Oh god another X puzzle.' Cissy sighed.

'Okay so this one is on ice, and if you slip off-'

'You'll fall.' Cody finished, shuddering.

'Yep. Let's be careful then.'

'I think it's like a circle shape. You start around the edges, and work your way inwards until you are in line with the switch.' Percy draw a map in his notebook.

'Ok I'll go.' Cissy breathed. 'After all I am the lightest on my feet.' She said, pointing to the ballet shoes on her feet. She stepped out onto the ice and slid towards the first X.

'Click!' It became an O. She slid forward the next X, then the next, then the next, in same pattern Percy had drawn.

'Ummm... which one is next?' She asked nervously. She lost her balance, and fell of the edge of the rink.

'Cissy!' Her brother cried.

'I'm okay!' Cissy called up weakly. 'There's a lot of snow down here to break the fall! And it's not very far!'

'Hold on I'm coming!' Cody jumped over the edge landed right next to Cissy. 'What's this?' He asked, pointing to two snow scupltures ahead of him.

'It's a snow Papyrus.' Cissy replied. 'Of course he would make himself chiseled and with large muscles.' She rolled her eyes.

'And this? It's just a lump of snow with the word 'sans' written on it in red marker.' Cody pointed to a pathetic lump of snow which lay next to the carefully scuplted snow Papyrus.

'The mark of a true lazybones.' Cissy laughed. 'Now, how do we get back up?'

'Hold on lemme see.' He thought for a moment. 'I could give you a boost? It's not that far. Then you lean over and pull me up.'

'Good idea. I think that'll work.' Cissy nodded. Her brother bent down and cupped his hands together. She stood on his hand and Cody thrusted upwards. At the same time, she leaped up and flew gracefully in the air, twirling as she went.

'Show off.' Cody muttered. She landed gracefully on the snow above, then leaned over the edge to pull Cody up.

'Right. I think we got this now.' The siblings winked at each other. Cissy tried again, and managed to reach the switch.

'Click!' The button was pressed, and a bridge formed ahead of them.

'Magic never ceases to amaze me, even after death.' Chara muttered aloud, and followed the children across the bridge. They came to an area with several snow poffs dotted along the ground in various places.

'My what a tiny doghouse!' Fiona remarked. 'I can barely fit my arm in!'

'Small, cute house, for a small, cute doggie!' Aurora giggled, and began to search behind each snow poff. 'No doggie, but some money!' Aurora laughed and stood up, waving two notes in the air.

'My goodness! That's 30G!' Fiona wowed.

'Good spotting Aurora!'

'Okay is doggie behind this one?' Aurora said, moving onto the last snow poff, which lay in the middle of the narrow path ahead of them. Suddenly, out came a little white dog from underneath the snowpoff. It's head just poked through. It yapped, two very small yaps. The children awed.

'So cute!' Aurora said. She ran over to the dog to pet it. Suddenly, the dog stood up, and revealed a huge suit of armour. The dog was wielding a large spear with a dogs face painted on the tip.

'Greater Dog' Thomas read off the chestplate. 'Well this is certainly something.'

'Here boy!' Aurora beckoned the dog over, clearly not intimated by it's massive size. It looked down, then bounded over to her, metal clanging as it went. The dog bent down and Aurora pet them on the head. She giggled. The dog lay on the ground for a minute, fast asleep.

'Huh. Well that was-' Thomas started to say, before the dog stood back up again and started running around.

'Clang clang clang clang' the armour went as it ran.

'Who thought it was good idea to put a tiny dog in such a large suit of armour?' Cissy inquired, scratching her head.

'Fetch!' Aurora grabbed Frisk's stick and threw out down the path. The dog clambered over post haste and brought it back. Frisk and Aurora both giggled. The dog lay down and rested on Aurora's feet, its head nudging her leg, begging to be petted.

'Hee hee silly doggy.' She said and began petting him more. The dog responded by rolling over with its legs hanging in the air. Its spear lay on the ground, abandoned. Frisk and Aurora continued to pet Greater Dog, until it stood up, licked Aurora's face, then turned around and walked away, with its spear in its hand.

'What was that all about?' Percy asked, very confused.

'Haven't a clue.' Thomas responded, equally confused. They continued walking and came to a thin bridge overhanging a large cliff. Down below, a little house in the middle of the woods had its lights on and smoke pouring from the chimney.

'This really is a beautiful view isn't it, children?' Fiona breathed.

'Yes very much so!' Cissy responded, not looking down. The children all stopped suddenly, for Papryus stood at the end of the bridge, in his usual pose of one wrist on his hip and the other by his side, with his palm facing towards the ground, fingers splayed out.

'Humans!' His voice rang over the wind. 'This is your final and most deadly challenge yet! Behold! The gauntlet of deadly terror!' On cue, harpoons and cannons raised up from underneath the bridge, aimed right towards the children.

'Woah woah woah!' Thomas called out, his hand raised above his head to protect himself. 'Sans I thought you said that Papyrus wouldn't hurt us!'

'Meh. What can you do?' Sans shrugged.

'When I say the word, the trap will activate! Spears will fly, cannons will explode, jets of fire will burn! Activate!' Papyrus yelled.  
Nothing happened.

'Ummm... that doesn't look very activated.' Sans pointed out.

'Well erm...' Papyrus hesitated. 'This trap seems... erm... too easy to defeat the humans with! Yes! That's it!' The children breathed a sigh of relief and stood up. Chara rolled their eyes.

'Too easy?' Sans asked.

'Yes! You know me, Sans! My traps are expertly cooked! Japes sufficiently well-thought out! This is far too unfair for the likes of 7 humans!'

'And a ghost!' Chara pointed out.

'Okay. If you say so, brother.' Sans shrugged.

'Away it goes!' Papyrus called, waving a hand at the now-departing gauntlet, as if to say, 'Begone!' 'Maybe you were right about being lazy after all.'

'Me? Right about something?' Sans put his hand on his heart, touched.

'Well... What I'm saying is you're still completely wrong!' Papyrus stuck one finger up in the air. 'As I said, this trap is far too easy to capture the humans with! I need to work hard to capture them!' Sans hung his head slightly, disappointed. The children all stared at the tall, babbling skeleton.

'What are you looking at?' Papyrus turned and looked at the children. 'This was another decisive victory for Papyus! Heh heh heh heh heh nyeh! Heh?' Papyrus shook his head, then turned and ran off. The children walked over to Sans.

'Hey I should probably tell you something, it looks like you're gonna have to fight my brother soon, so let me give you some advice. My brother has a very special attack. The blue attack. Are you aware of it?'

'Yes we are. Thanks to Aurora.' Fiona looked down and winked at the child.

'Hee hee!' Aurora giggled, shaking snow out of her long, brown hair.

'Alright so you know what to do?' Sans asked.

'Yep.'

'Alright. And one other thing, don't fight him, capiche?'

'We would never hurt you or your brother, Sans.' Fiona reassured.

'Good. Now enough dreariness. Snowdin Town is just up ahead. Let's go.'


	8. Snowdin Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sight of such a warm and friendly town fills the children with determination! But what is Papyrus up to now?

Sans lead the children through the snow, past the sign which bore the town's name.

'This here is the local shop. The town is small, so the shop-owner sells many things. Food, items, you name it.' Sans explained. 'Then right next to it is the local inn. If you have enough gold you can stay the night, but if you just need a quick rest, she'll let you in for free. She's nice like that.'

'Wow! This town is so nice!' Cissy breathed, looking around.

'And the atmosphere is so warm, despite the cold.' Fiona added, nodding.

'Well I'll leave you kids to it. I've gotta go to my station. See ya 'round kiddos.' Sans waved, then walked off.

'Isn't his station way way that way?' Cody pointed behind him.

'Who knows where that guy is going?' Cissy shrugged.

'I say we go have a look around the town.' Thomas suggested, adjusting his hat once again. 'Meet some new people.'

'Good idea. Let's check out this shop first.' They all opened the door and walked in. A bell overhanging the door rang as they walked in.

'Hello kids! And welcome to my shop! Feel free to walk around and explore all the items here. See what you like.' A kind, tall, humanoid rabbit standing behind the counter said, smiling cheerily. The children sniffed at the pleasant smell of cinnamon that filled the room. At the back, an old record player was playing a calming little song, which repeated over and over again. In the rabbit's hand she held a mug of cocoa. She sipped it quietly as the children walked around.

'I don't think I've seen you children before. Are you from the capital?' She asked kindly.

'No not really-' Cody started to say, before Chara stopped him.

'Yes. We're just having a look at all the cool places outside of the capital. We're just passing through.' Chara interrupted, smiling sweetly at the shop owner.

'Oh! A ghost!' She cried, shocked. 'I haven't seen many of you folk for a while. Not many ghosts come to Snowdin.' She frowned slightly, as if disappointed by the fact. 'Well I hope you enjoy your stay!' She smiled again, and put her cup down next to the record player, having finished her cocoa. 'Are you here by yourself?'

'Well technically yes,' Fiona started. 'But we're never alone as long as we have each other. Besides, I'm looking after them.' She smiled reassuringly at the tall rabbit.

'Well.' She said, adjusting her cap. 'I'm sure they'll all be in safe hands with you.' She winked at Fiona.

'Hmm? What is it Percy?' Fiona said, leaning over towards Percy, who was whispering sonething in her ear. 'That piece of paper on the wall? What about it?'

'The emblem.' He whispered. 'That was on Toriel's dress.' Percy pointed to a roll of parchment which lay on the wall above the record player, which was still playing the same tune.

'Excuse me, miss.' Fiona walked up to the counter and pointed at the emblem. 'What does that emblem mean?'

'Oh that? That's the prophecy! Don't you know?' She narrowed her eyes at the children. They all shook their heads.  
'What are they teaching you in school nowadays?' She shook her head. 'I think the little triangles are supposed to represent us, trapped down here in the underground, and that winged circle represents “The Angel. The one who has seen the surface.” and how, one day, they'll come down and-'

'Free us all.' Chara finished.

'Well somebody's done their homework.' She smiled. 'Now, is there anything you wanna buy?'

'Can we have some of those cinammon buns?' Aurora asked Fiona.

'Sure!' Fiona said. 'How much are they?'  
'22 G each.' The shopkeeper smiled. She looked at Chara. 'I'm afraid I do not have any ghost food. Ever since the ghosts stopped coming to Snowdin-'

'It's fine lady. Really.' Chara raised a hand to stop her. 'I'm not hungry anyways.'

'We'll take seven then! That's one each for all the hu- I mean, all of us!' Fiona said, stopping herself from saying 'humans.'  
'

That's 22 times 7, which is 154 G total.' She calculated, impressing the children greatly. Fiona took some money from each of the children and bought the cinnamon buns.

'Thank you children! Oh and do make sure to stop by the inn if you feel tired. My sister runs it. It's just next door.' The shopkeeper waved the children goodbye.

'Thank you!' Fiona waved back, shutting the door behind her.

'Life never gets easier down here.' The shopkeeper sighed to no-one. 'Well, one day we'll be free.'

The children all walked next door to the inn, where a slightly shorter bunny stood behind the counter. She smiled at the children. 'Well hello kids! Do you all want to stay in one room?'

'Yes please.'

'That'll be 80 G then. I only charge rates for numbers of rooms and nights, doesn't matter how many people are in them.'

'Well that is very kind of you, madam.' Thomas tipped his hat at her. A small voice piped up from next to the innkeeper.

'Mom says sleeping can recover your health above maximum HP. What's maximum HP?' The small bunny asked. The children all looked at each other, then raced upstairs to the room, leaving Frisk and Aurora to pay and get the key.

'Have a nice stay!' The inkeeper called, as Aurora slowly made her way upstairs. The children all ran in and jumped onto the massive bed. They all immediately fell asleep.

The children all woke up, feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.

'Ahh!' Thomas called as he stretched. 'How long was that?'

'Not very long, but probably relatively long. I'd say about an hour or two.' Fiona yawned. The children all walked slowly downstairs, taking the inkeeper by surprise.

'Hi! Y'all looked like you had a great sleep. Which is remarkable, considering you were only up there for two minutes.' The children all looked at each other, dumbfounded.

'Here's your money back.' The inkeeper said, handing Aurora and Frisk their money back. 'You can pay me if you're going to stay a full night.'

'Thank you!' Aurora said, following the other children out of the inn and back into the cold.

'That was odd.' Percy said as they walked over to a bear laying a present under a decorated tree.

'You celebrate Christmas too?' Cody asked the bear excitedly.

'Christmas? What's Christmas? No, some local juvenile delinquents put decorations on a poor deer who just wanted to be left alone.' The bear explained. 'So we started giving it presents to make it feel better. Now it's a tradition – to lay presents underneath a decorated tree.' The bear stood up, satisfied with their work, and moved off. Percy looked at Thomas. Thomas just shrugged.

'We do what we really like here.' A bear sitting outside a bar called. 'This town doesn't have a mayor, but if anything goes wrong, a skeleton will tell a fish lady about it.' The bear explained. 'Thaaaaaaaaaaaat's politics!' he sang, flicking a coin up and down in his hand.

'A fish lady?' Chara asked. 'God what's Dad getting himself into with this army thing.'

'You mean the Royal Guard?' The bear asked, opening one eye and looking at Chara. 'Yeah ever since the prince died, King Asgore has formed an army to kill any humans who fall down here. But so far none have falled yet. The fish lady is the head of the Royal Guard. I don't know much about her. If you go into Grillby's, you might find someone who knows. Thaaaaaaaaat's communication!' The children all looked up at the sign painted all the way along the side of the building.

'Grillby's Bear- I mean bar.' Cissy read. 'Should we go in?'

'We probably need to hear more about this fish lady. She might be dangerous.' Thomas said. They all walked in. They were instantly met with the foul stench of alcohol, alongside the smell of fries and... smoke? In the corner a jukebox was playing a funky theme. 'Now playing... “sans.” ' it read. The children looked up, and discovered that the bartender was made of fire. They walked up to the bartender, who just looked at them in silence.

'Grillbz said he'd offer you a glass of water, but he doesn't touch the stuff.' A slightly tipsy bird wearing a stained shirt said. She pointed to a table where a group of dogs were sitting, including Doggo, Dogamy and Dogaressa, and Greater Dog. 'Those dogs are part of a special unit from the Royal Guard, led by Undyne.' The bird explained, her purple feathers ruffling as she pointed with her wing. 'She's rude, loud, and beats up everyone who gets in her way. It's no wonder the kids wanna be like her when they grow up!' The bird laughed. The children all looked at each other, very worried. Over on a far table, Lesser Dog was playing poker with itself.

'I think it's... losing?' Percy asked, confused.  
'How can someone lose to themself?' Cissy asked.

'I don't know.' Percy shrugged.

'Excuse me,' Thomas said, walking over to Dogamy and Dogaressa. 'Can you tell me about the Royal Guard? And who Undyne is?'

'We're part of the Canine Unit from the Royal Guard.' Dogamy answered. 'But we never get any respect. I wish those skeletons would throw us a bone.' Dogamy sighed.

'We love bones.' Dogaressa explained.

'That... doesn't really answer my question, who's the Royal Guard? Who's Undyne?'

'The Royal Guard was formed by our King Asgore. We've been instructed to hunt and capture/kill any humans who come by, so we can deliver their SOULs to Asgore and shatter the barrier.' Dogamy explained.

'Undyne's the captain. She was trained by Asgore, and rapidly became a formidable student of his. He was very quick to make her the captain, and rightly so. She's very eager to get her hands on a human, and very eager to punish the human race for what they did to us.' Dogaressa explained, licking her lips and pounding her fist into her paw. The children gulped.

'Thank you, dogs.' Cissy said, before quickly turning and walking away.

'Oh Christ.' Cody swore. 'What are we gonna do?'

'Well first, we're going to stop using the Lord's name in vain.' Fiona said, reprimanding Cody. 'But secondly, we're going to have face Undyne at some point I imagine.'

'Well first we gotta face Papyrus.' Thomas said.

'Yeah.' Cissy sighed. 'We're in for a lot I think.'

'Well let's focus on the happy things for now. Let's keep exploring the town!' Fiona suggested, leading the kids out the door. As they walked out, a very inebriated bunny cried,

'I need new drinks a-and h-h-h-hot guysssss!'

'Well that was weird.' Thomas said. 'But I relate.' They continued walking, passing through several places like the library (whose sign was spelt wrong), Sans and Papyrus' house, which bore numerous decorations such as a pirate's black flag and lots of Christmas lights, and a little shed which sat next to the big house.

'Let's go visit Sans!' Aurora suggested. 'Have a nice little break before continuing on!' She knocked at the front door and rung the doorbell, but nobody answered. She tried to open the door, but it was locked.

'There's a door round here!' Cody called. 'But it's locked too.'

'Same with the shed.' Thomas said.

'So where are they?' Chara asked.

'I wanted to say goodbye to them before we left.' Aurora looked sad.

'It'll be okay Aurora.' Fiona said. 'We can always come back later.'

'If we don't get killed by this mad fish.' Thomas muttered under his breath.

'You are now leaving Snowdin. Hope you had a swell time!' Percy read a small sign which sat about a metre away from the little shed.

'Well let's keep going I guess.' They all kept walking, and it started to snow. The snow got heavier and heavier, and it got windier and windier. All of a sudden the children couldn't see anything. A tall, lean figure stood in the snow. His voice rang out over the loud wing.

'Humans.' Papyrus said. 'Allow me to share with you some complex feelings.' He breathed in, then continued. 'Feelings like, the joy of finding another pasta lover. Having a cool, strong person think you're cool. Having someone who truly cares about you. These feelings...' Papyrus trailed off. 'These feelings are what you must all be feeling right now! Yes! After all I am very great. I don't ever wonder what having lots of friends feels like!' He sounded like he was choking slightly, and Fiona put her hand over heart in sympathy. 'Do not worry humans! You will all be lonely no longer! For I, the Great Papyrus, will be your-' He stopped suddenly, and turned around, away from them.

'Your?' Thomas asked.

'No no this is all wrong!' Papyrus stomped on the ground. 'I can't be your friend.' He cried, turning back around. 'You are all humans! I must capture you! Then took you to the capital! Then I will get all the things I utterly deserve!' Papyrus' cape flapped in the wind.

'But-' Aurora started.

'POWERFUL! POPULAR! PRESTIGIOUS! THAT'S PAPYRUS!' He interrupted. 'The newest member, of the Royal Guard!'


	9. Bonetrousle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus blocks the way! How will the children get past this kind yet formidable opponent? Will their world get turned upside down?

'Papyrus is blocking the way!' Percy called. 'What do we do?'

'What we do best of course.' Thomas winked at Percy. 'Hey Papyrus!'

'Yes?'

'You're the grater to my block of cheese. Very great.' Thomas pretended to blow a kiss at the skeleton.

'W-wha- f-flirting?' Papyrus blushed, depsite not having cheeks or blood. 'So you finally reveal your ultimate feelings! Let's all date later! After I defeat you!' Papyrus suggested. Percy looked shocked at Thomas, but went along with it, and sent more compliments to Papyrus.

'Halt humans!' Papyrus splayed his palm out in front him, as if to say 'Stop flirting with me humans.'

'I know what you're trying to do!' He said.

'You're trying to distract me, in order to prevent me from capturing you!' Papyrus called, truimphant at his apparent foil of the humans plans. 'Nyeh heh heh! Well then, let's see if y'all can withstand my fabled blue attack!' Suddnely, Papyrus sent a wave of light blue bones of varying sizes at the children. They all remembered what Aurora had done, and followed her in the act of standing completely still, not moving a muscle. The bones seemed to pass right through them without doing any physical harm.

'Ha ha! We know your tricks Papyrus!' Cody taunted. 'Give up! We have you right where we want y-' Cody's taunt was cut short, as he and the others were pulled upwards and starting to float in mid-air. Everyone's SOULs, even Chara's, were glowing dark blue, same colour as Cissy's.

'You're blue now! That's my attack!' Papyrus cheered gleefully. 'Nyeh heh heh heh heh!'

'Well.' Cissy said, looking down at the ground a metre below them. 'We're blue now.'

'We can still move properly, just only within a certain area!' Fiona said, dodging a bone headed her way. She indicated to the line of bones which lined along by the river next to them, the trees on the other side, and about a metre above them.

'They're behind us too!' Chara pointed out. 'And I can't phase through them. Because they're magic attacks, they'll still hurt me!'

'Which leaves the only exit: Guarded by Papyrus.' Cissy sighed.

'Nyeh heh heh!' Papyrus laughed as he sent more attacks towards the children, which they dodged with ease. 'Too easy eh? Let's up the ante!' He started to send larger bones towards the children, which they had to float upwards, downwards, and side to side to avoid. 'Hmm... I wonder what I should wear...' Papyrus said.

'Excuse me?' Thomas said slyly.

'What? No I'm not thinking about that date thing!' Papyrus replied, clearly thinking about that date thing. 'I'm talking about after the battle when I will have to get changed!' He started to sweat, despite not having skin.

'Alright then.' Thomas winked at him, noting the different beauty products Papyrus was applying to himself. The attacks were getting harder and harder to dodge, and coming at a faster pace. The children were getting tired.

'Nyeh!' Papyrus cried. 'You'll never defeat me! You may have bested my bones, but can you withstand my special attack? After my next turn I am going to use it!' He breathed in, and sent a torrent of bones towards the children.

'Ow!' One of the bones had hit Cissy, bruising her arm.

'You okay, sis?' Her brother called out to her.

'Yeah I'll be fine.'

'Well then! Can you withstand the power of my special attack!' Papyrus riled up. 'Behold! My special attack! He turned around and looked down by his feet, to find a little white dog gnawing at a large skull. 'Hey! You stupid dog! That's my special attack!'

The dog looked up at Papyrus and continued to gnaw.

'Yes you!' Papyrus cried. 'Stop gnawing on that bone!'

The dog stood up and ran off, the skull in its mouth.

'Wait! Stop! Get back here with my special attack!' Papyrus turned around and chased after the dog, but it was too late. It was gone. Papyrus sighed. 'Well, I guess I'll just use an absoultely normal regular attack.' Papyrus summoned up all his power, then threw it at the children. The 'roof' of the battle arena opened up, and the children flew upwards at an incredible speed in order to avoid the giant bone heading towards them. They just manage to scrape over it, before hurtling towards the ground at great speed, Papyrus just stopping their descent before they hit the ground, before letting them drop. Their SOULs all reverted back to their normal colours.

'It's clear...' Papyrus huffed and puffed, very exhausted. 'You can't... defeat me...' He rested his hands on his knees and breathed in and out slowly. 'Y-yeah! I can see you all quivering in your boots! Therefore, I elect to grant you pity humans! Now is your chance to accept my mercy!' The humans all breathed a sigh of relief and accepted it. The bones surrounding them all disappeared, and Papyrus turned away from them. 'Nyoo hoo hoo... I can't even stop someone as weak as you... Undyne is going to be so disappointed in me...'

'Let's be friends!' Aurora called.

'Really?' Papyrus whipped around, grinning cheerfully. 'You want to be friends with me? Wowie! We haven't even gone on our first date yet, and we've already managed to hit the friendzone!' Fiona slapped her forehead, remembering her occasion of the last time a guy asked her out. 'Who knew that all I had to do to make friends was give them awful puzzles and fight them!'

'Wait no Papyrus that's not-' Chara started.

'You have taught me a lot, humans.' Papyrus interrupted. 'Feel free to come by and have that date!' Papyrus ran and jumped over all the humans and ran back home.

'Why didn't he just walk around us like a normal person would?' Percy shook his head. 'That skeleton confuses me sometimes.'

'Let's just keep going. We can come back to Snowdin later.' Thomas said. 'Besides I think it's getting warmer.'

Sure enough it was getting warmer. As they walked, the snow started to fade, and they started to walk on stone.

'Oh thank goodness. The snow was beginning to bite.' Fiona said, indicating to her very cold legs.

'Hey kids! How was the fight with my brother?' Sans called over. He was sitting at another sentry station, which sat opposite a group of reeds by a river.

'You have two sentry stations?' Percy asked.

'Yep. I got two jobs. And that means twice as many legally-required breaks.' Sans winked at the children. 'I'm going to Grillby's. Wanna come?'

'Yeah sure, why not.' Cody said.

'Great! Follow me, I know a shortcut.' Sans led the children, in the opposite direction. He clicked his fingers, and all of the sudden the children were all in the bar.

'Fast shortcut, huh?'

'Woah.' Percy clutched their forehead, their head swimming. 'I feel sick.'

'Yeah next time tell us before you teleport all of us to another location.' Thomas clutched his stomach.

'That was so cool!' Cody was jumping up and down. 'Now I know why you keep walking in the wrong direction and somehow ending up ahead of us.'

'By Rover's Beard Sans. Please stop doing that. You know I don't like it when you appear without moving.' Doggo said shakily, very spooked at the sudden appearance.

'Sorry dawg.' Sans winked.

'And stop saying that.'

'Anyway.' Sans turned to the children.

'Whaddya wanna order?'

'Oh no thanks, we just ate.' Fiona said kindly.

'Besides, we're a little bit sick from that sudden trip.' Percy said, sitting down on the stool at the bar.

'Oh come on, you guys.' Sans shrugged. 'Y'all must be hungry from that fighting.'

'Oh alright.' Fiona said, not wanting to offend Sans. 'How about a bowl of chips for us to share?'

'Huh?' Thomas, Cody, Cissy, and Sans all asked at the same time.

'Oh right, cultural differences.' Fiona muttered to herself. 'Sorry, how about a bowl of fries for all of us to share?'

'Hey that sounds pretty good. Better make it two, ain't gonna be enough.' Sans replied.

'Hey Grillbz, we'll have a double order of fries.'  
The bartender nodded, and walked into the kitchen to prepare the order.

'So what do you think of my brother?' Sans asked, sitting down at the empty stool next to Percy.

'He's kinda... lame.' Thomas replied.

'Hey! Those jokes aren't funny okay?' Sans retorted. 'And I know how annoying it is, but it's nice to have someone to call you out on your faults. It helps me stay down to earth (or down under it amirite) and it gets me working.' Sans paused for a moment.

'Anyway, cool or not, you have to agree Papyrus tries real hard. Like how he went to the house of the leader of the Royal Guard, and begged her to let him be in it. Course she shut the door on him cause it was midnight. But he stayed there all night waiting for her. Seeing his dedication, she decided to give him some “warrior training”. It's a work in progress.'

'That darn jukebox is broken again.' A horse standing next to the jukebox said, as the music suddenly stopped playing.

'Oh hey that reminds me. I wanted to ask you something.' Sans suddenly got serious. 'Have you ever heard of a talking flower?'

The children all stared at each other, wide-eyed. They turned back to Sans and nodded.

'So you heard all about it. The echo flower. You say something to them, and they repeat it, over and over again.'

'Well what about it?' Thomas asked.

'Papyrus told me something interesting the other day. He said a flower kept coming up to him. Whispering to him. Flattery, advice, encouragement.' He paused. 'Predictions.' Chara's eyes widened even further. 'Keep an eye out, okay? I think someone's using an echo flower to play a trick on him.'

Grillby came out, carrying the two large bowls of fries. He set them on the countertop in front of Sans and Percy. Sans grabbed a large handful of fries and shoved them in his sweatshirt pocket.

'Well see ya round kids.' Sans got off the stool. 'Oh and hey, could y'all fit the bill? It's just 10000G.'

'10000G?!' They all cried.

'I'm just kidding. Grillby, put it in on my tab.' Grillby's fiery head tilted back in annoyance as Sans walked towards the door. 'Oh hey,' he said, turning around. 'I was gonna say something, but I forgot.' He opened the door and left, snapping his fingers and vanishing as the doors closed behind him.

'What was that all about?' Thomas asked.  
'I don't know, but I do know one thing. That flower he was talking about ain't an echo flower.' Percy responded.

'Ain't that the truth.' Thomas replied, shoving a small handful of fries into this mouth.

'Anyway. Let's just eat these and go.'  
The children all finished the fries quickly, thanked Grillby and left.

'Since we're here, may as well find Papyrus.' Thomas suggested.

'And see what he has in store for all of us.' Fiona said.

'You know, he really isn't such a bad guy after all.' Cissy smiled. 'Wouldn't you agree?'

'I still don't really trust him. He's working for that fish lady after all.' Thomas said.

'Well I highly doubt Papyrus is capable of really lying.' Fiona replied.

'Look! There he is there!' Cody pointed, and sure enough there he was: Waiting outside his house for the children.

'Hello children! Have you come by for our date? I'm going to take you somewhere special: A place I like to spend a lot of time!' Papyrus beamed, and strolled off with the children in tow. They followed him along just past the library, before Papyrus turned around and lead them back to-

'My house!' Papyrus called proudly and went outside. The children all followed him inside.  
The house was very tidy, save for a lone sock lying on the coffee table. A bunch of notes lay on top of it, from Sans and Papyrus.

'What's this?' Percy examined a rock on a plate lying on the table near the door.

'That's my brother's pet rock. He always forgets to feed it. As usual, I have to take responsibility.'

'The rock is just... covered in sprinkles.' Percy said to himself. They went into the kitchen, and found a very tall sink to which no-one could reach the top of.

'Impressed? I increased the height of my sink.' Papyrus explained, walking over to it.

'That way I could fit more bones under it.

'See?' He opened the door, to find the same little white dog that had stolen his special attack earlier gnawing happily on one of the many bones. 'What?!' Papyrus yelled. 'Catch that meddling canine!'

The dog jumped out the cupboard door and run off. From upstairs, the children could hear the door opening, and a trombone playing the three note song which is associated with failure (you know the one).

'Sans!' Papyrus stomped the ground. 'Stop plauging my life with incidental music!' He sighed.

'There's only tins of spaghetti.' Fiona sighed disappointgly, looking inside the fridge.  
Cody was sitting on the couch and had flicked on the TV. Fast-paced game-show music was playing.

'Ooh it's my favourite TV show!'  
The screen bore a message saying: 'Standby - Stay tuned for another episode – MTT.'  
'What?!' Papyrus shrieked, hastily turning the TV off. 'It's usually better than this! Don't judge me.'

'Let's check out upstairs.' Fiona suggested

'Well this bedroom is locked.' Cissy said, testing the rightmost door.

'That's Sans room. I wouldn't bother going in there. It's like a whole other world in there. A world where they don't know how to vaccuum. You best be staying away from that place.'

'Not to mention the lights glowing beneath the door.' Cissy muttered.

'Here's my bedroom!' Papyrus indicated to a door just to the left of Sans' room. 'We can maybe go in and... do whatever it is people do when they date?'

They all walked in, and Fiona had to supress some giggles at the sight. Papyrus' bed was shaped like a sports car, and next to it lay a table filled with action figurines, including a rectangular-shaped robot with glowing lights on his 'face' forming an M shape.

'Well, if you have seen everything, do you want to start the date?'

'Yes!' Aurora and Frisk looked at each other giggling.

'Alright then! DATING START!'


	10. Dating Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans has enlisted you to watch out for Papyrus, and Papyrus just wants to be your friend. So what happens when the frightening fish-lady leader Undyne comes to destroy the peace?

'Well here we are! On our date.' Papyrus looked nervous. 'I've actually never done this before.'

'No kidding.' Thomas muttered to himself.

'Luckily!' Papyrus shouted, not having heard Thomas. 'I snagged an official dating rulebook from the public library! You can't spell prepared without spelling several letters from my name!'

Chara counted the letters on their fingers and shrugged. Their knees had just been beginning to form. Even they could notice it now.

'We are ready to begin this thing!' Papyrus continued. 'First! Ask them out on a date! Alright, I, the Great Papyrus, will go on a date with you!'

'Umm... okay?' Thomas replied.

'Well that's settled! Second! Put on nice clothes to show you care!' Papyrus stopped suddenly. 'Wait a second... Thomas!'

'Sorry what?' Thomas said, taken aback by the sudden mention of his name.

'That hat you're wearing right now! Fiona! Your apron! Percy! Your glasses!'

'They aren't really clothing, but ok.' Percy said quietly.

'Aurora! That ribbon in your hair! Frisk! That blue and purple striped sweater you're wearing!'

Frisk and Aurora both giggled and looked at their respective items of clothing.

'Cody! That bandanna around your head!'

'Hmm? What about it-'

'Cissy! The tutu you have on right now!'

'How do you know all of our names? I don't remember any of us telling you our names-' asked Cissy, the only one who seemed to be trying to make sense out of the silliness.

'You're all wearing clothing right now!' Papyrus gasped. 'Could it be? You have wanted to date me from the very beginning?'

'Umm not really no-' Thomas said.

'Then, was this date, predestined?'

'Yes that sounds about right.' Fiona smiled sweetly.

'OH NO! YOUR DATING POWER!' Papyrus looked like he had just been physically attacked. 'Fortunately! I always wear my special clothes under my regular clothes! Just in case someone ever asks me out on a date!' He ran into his closet, then quickly got back out. He was wearing a pair of gym shorts, a baseball cap (positioned sideways on his head), sneakers, a singlet with the words 'Cool Dude.' written on it, and shoulder pads in the shape of basketballs.

'Nyeh heh heh!' Papyrus laughed. 'What do you think?'

'It's... something.' Thomas said.

'It looks wonderful Papyrus. I love it.' Fiona said.

'Oh no! A genuine compliment! Your dating power!'

'There it is again with the damn dating power.' Cissy muttered.  
'Well! Don't think you have bested me yet! I, the Great Papyrus, have never been beaten at dating, and never will be!'

'This is literally your first date-'

'You don't understand the true hidden nature of this outfit! Therefore what you just said is invalid! Unless you find my secret, which won't happen! This date will not escalate any further!'

Thomas reached up and pulled off Papyrus' cap, revealing a gift-wrapped plate. 'Always check the hat first.' He said.

'Aha! Well I suppose I cannot hide it any longer! It's a present! A present for all of you!' Papyrus bent down and gave it to Aurora and Frisk, who tore it open rapidly to reveal a plate of spaghetti.

'Do you know what this is?' Papyrus asked.  
Aurora and Frisk nodded.

'Spaghetti. That's what you're thinking, isn't it?'

They nodded again.

'Right! But oh so wrong! This ain't any ol' plain pasta! This is an artisan's work! The pasta, finely aged in an oaken cask, then cooked by me, Master Chef Papyrus! Go ahead, take a bite!'

Aurora and Frisk each took a bite of the spaghetti, and their face reflexively scrunched up.

'What a passionate expression! You must truly love my cooking! And by extension me! Even more than I do! Oh my!' Papyrus clapped his hands together.

'How does it taste, dears?' Fiona asked the children, who were barely swallowing it.  
'Indescribable.' Thomas responded, having taken a bite and mirroring the younger ones expressions.

'Well humans, it's time I told you... I... Papyrus...' He hesitated. 'I have to go... and.... see... a friend... If you ever need me, here's my phone number. You can call me anytime! Erm platonically. Welp gotta go!' He took off.

'Well that was one heck of an experience.' Thomas said, spitting out the spaghetti back onto the plate.

'Let's leave.' Cissy suggested, making for the door.

'Good idea. Let's go back to the marsh. Maybe we can finally meet this fish lady.' Fiona said.

'Oh boy. Looking forward to it.' Percy said sarcastically.

They all walked back out to where Sans station was, and found that he wasn't there. Instead, a little dinosaur child with no arms sat overlooking the river. Behind them a man was standing next to a blue flower.

'This is an echo flower.' The man explained. 'They repeat the last thing they heard, over and over.'

Frisk prodded the echo flower with their stick.

'This is an echo flower.' The echo flower explained. 'They repeat the last thing they head, over and over.'

'I don't know what I expected.' Thomas blinked.

'Yo!' The little monster kid said. 'Are you a kid too?' They asked Frisk. 'I can tell cause you're wearing a striped shirt.'

'We're... all kids...' Cissy said.

'Except for me, of course.' Chara waved at the child. 'I'm a ghost! Howdy.'

'Are you sneaking out to see her too? She's the best right? I'm going to be just like her when I grow up. D-don't tell my parents I'm here, ok?' They said.

'I'm sorry, but who exactly are you?' Fiona asked.

'Oh I'm sorry! I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Monster Kid!'

'This here is Frisk.' Fiona pointed to Frisk, who waved up their stick and smiled, then introduced all the other children.

'It's nice to meet y'all. Let's move on ahead. I feel more confident going to see her if we're all together.'

'Ok then! Let's go!' Aurora said, walking alongside her new friend.

They walked until they came to a set of bushes. They heard footsteps coming from above, and a familiar voice.

'H-hi Undyne! I'm here with my daily report!' Papyrus stammered, very worried and very guilty. 'Regarding those humans I called about earlier – ugh did I fight them? Yes of couse I did! I fought them valiantly! Uuuhhh d-did I capture t-them? W-well I-I-I uuuuhhh... No. I tried very hard, but in the end, I failed. I'm sorry.'

Footsteps. Metal armour clanged.

'W-what? Y-y-you're g-g-going to t-t-take the h-h-umans' SOULs y-y-yourself?'

Everyone gulped.

'W-w-well y-y-ou don't n-n-need to destroy them, y-you see-'

BANG. There was a very loud stomp that came from above the children.

'U-u-uhh o-okay Undyne. I-I'll h-h-h-help in a-anyway I can.' Papyrus walked off.

The children then continued on, rustling the bushes slightly. Bang bang. Footsteps. Bang bang. They edged closer. Bang bang. The children looked up, and saw a huge figure towering over the cliff above them, wielding a very large glowing white-blue spear, aimed right at them. The figure searched the grass. Their face, conceiled by a helmet and visor, scanned the grass they were all lying in. Undyne put down the spear, turned around, and walked away, fading into the night.


	11. Waterfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The children start learning more about the history of the monsters, much to their guilt and distress. With the impending threat of Undyne weighing down their shoulders, how does their new friend Monster Kid, who seems totally enamoured and inspired by the Captain of Royal Guard, affect their journey. And what are these eerie Echo Flowers?

The children all ran out from the grass and clutched their chests, breathing heavily.

'WOAH! THAT WAS SO COOL!' Monster Kid ran out from the grass, freaking out. 'SHE WAS STARING AT YOU FOR THE LONGEST TIME! FOR LIKE FOREVER! What did you to get her attention?'

'I don't really know... We don't know that much about her...' Percy lied.

'Well I don't know about you, but I'm going off to find her! I'll see you up ahead!' They ran off, tripping and falling flat on their face as they went. 'I'm okay!'

'Well... that happened...' Cissy panted, still struggling for breath.

'Let's keep going. Always keep moving forward.' Fiona picked up Aurora and put her on her back.

'Hee hee piggybacks!' Aurora squealed.  
They came to a small stream which lead into a waterfall dropping off the edge.

'The water's rushing too fast for us to cross.' Cissy said. 'We'll be swept of the edge. We'll need to find a way to get across.'

'Maybe these will help?' Cody had found a group of aquatic flowers just lying on the ground. 'The sign says: “When four bridge seeds align in the water, they will sprout.” I presume it's these things.' He lined them up in the water, one by one, in a straight line. Surprisngly, the flowers did not get swept off the edge.

'Must be an adapatation in their roots or something.' Percy speculated.

'There we go!' Cody aligned the fourth bridge seed, and sure enough, the flowers all sprouted, forming a bridge that they could all walk across.

'Genius.' Percy said, slapping Cody on the back. Cody beamed.

They came to a room full of echo flowers. A sign on the wall read: 'Wishing Room.'

They went around each of the echo flowers, listening to the wishes of the monsters.

'I wish my sister and I could see the real stars someday.' A very sad monster had wished into the echo flower.

'Gosh it's really sad to think: That we take our view of the stars in the sky every night for granted, and some of these folks have never seen a single star in their life.' Cissy thought aloud. 'There's so much that our ancestors have taken from these poor people.'

'Too right Cissy. They deserve to pay.' Chara said.

'Well they've long since gone now.' Cissy replied. The magic is unfortunately irreversible, and the nearby governments aren't willing to kill seven humans or let us use seven recently-dead humans to shatter the barrier. They'd rather just let us forget about it. Forget about the monsters.'

'Still bigoted then. Well if we made our own way out, will the humans attack us?'

'No not necessarily, but they are not going to show the same kindness, love and respect the monsters have showed us.'

'Hmmph. I figured as such. Ah. Here we are. This will give you a better idea of what happened.' Chara indicated to a set of plaques which lay along the wall by a bridge they were standing on.

'The War Of Humans And Monsters.' Cissy read. 'Why did the humans attack? Indeed it seemed that they had nothing to fear. Humans are unbelievably strong. It would take the SOUL of nearly every monster just to equal the power of a single human SOUL.'

'Wow. No wonder we're public enemy number 1-7.' Cody said.

'But humans have one weakness. Ironically it is the strength of their SOUL. Its power allows it to persist outside the human body, even after death.'

'How is that bad?' Thomas asked.

'It means that-' Percy started.

'If a monster defeats a human, it can take its SOUL.' Cissy read. 'A monster with a human SOUL-'

'A horrible beast with unfathomable power.' Chara finished.

'Are you okay Chara?' Fiona asked. 'All this must be bringing back rather traumatic experiences.'

'It's fine.' Chara choked, their breath unsteady.

'I'm fine. Let's keep moving.'

'The raft can only fit one.' Aurora pointed to a small raft on the edge of the bridge. On the other side of the small gap was their destination.

'Alright then one at a time.' Fiona said.  
Each human took turns on the raft, with Chara floating across the gap.

'The raft just went back to the other side by itself...' Fiona said, after getting off. 'No way back.'

'Oooh I don't like this.' Cissy breathed.

They walked further along the bridge, nervously looking around them. To the right was just more water, to their left lay a bank next to the river which raised up to a row of trees and-

'SCHTICK!' Three spears were thrown onto the bridge in front of them. Suddenly, up on the bank, Undyne appeared, and began to throw multiple magical spears at the children, which they were all barely able to dodge. They kept running and running, dodging all the spears, to they came to a grassy area where Undyne couldn't see them. They ran to an area in the middle of grass and hid.

'CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG!' The sound of Undyne's footsteps came closer and closer. Louder and louder. 'CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG!' Until-

'WHACK!' Her fist came down, and she pulled up her victim. A very bruised Monster Kid was raised out of the grass. Disappointed and angry that she had lost the children, she put them down and stormed off.

The children repeated their act of all racing out the grass and panting for breath. Monster Kid came rushing out too.

'OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD!' Monster Kid shrieked. 'UNDYNE JUST- TOUCHED ME!'

'She gave you a black eye.' Thomas pointed out.

'I'M NEVER WASHING MY FACE AGAIN!' MAN WERE YOU UNLUCKY!'

'Un-lucky?'

'If you were just standing a little closer to the left Frisk! Well I'm sure we'll see her again soon! Bye!' Monster Kid ran off, once again plunging their face into the mud before racing off.

'That kid is crazy.' Thomas said, spinning his finger around in circles near his head.


	12. Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Chara reminisces about their former life, the children start to learn more about Chara's life and their family. So who is Asriel and what became of him? And what does he have to do with the statue and the music box?

'Another table with another plate of cheese!' Cissy put her hands on her hips, examining the strange sight. 'This one has a crystal grown around it!'

'How on Ebbot?-' Percy asked.

'Haven't a clue.' She responded.

'Hey kids.' A familiar voice called.

'Sans!' Aurora yelled excitedly, running forward towards him.

'Heya kid. I'm thinking of getting into the telescope business.'

'Really?' asked Percy, who was very much into Astronomy.

'Yeah. It's normally 50000G to use this premium telescope, but since I know y'all, you can use it for free. Howzaboutit?' He offered, gesturing to his rather odd-looking telescope.

'This isn't another of your pranks, is it?' Cissy narrowed her eyes at Sans, remembering the last time she fell for one of Sans' pranks, when she first met him.

'Nope. Not at all. I can assure you there will be no pranking done here.'

'I'll have a look!' Cody volunteered and pressed his eye to the the telescope, squinting the other. 'I can't see anything.' He moaned. 'All I see is red.'

'Really?' Sans asked. 'Look at me for a second.'

Cody turned and looked at Sans.

'Woah what's with that red eye? You might wanna get that checked out.' He winked at Cody and turned him to face the others.

Everyone laughed.

'Hey what's going on here?' Cody asked, very confused.

Fiona held up her pan to show him his reflection. Around his right eye was a bright red ring given to him by the painted-telescope.

'You said there would be no pranks!' Cody accused Sans.

'No I didn't.' Sans testified. 'I assured Cissy that there would be pranking. I didn't assure you.' Sans winked at Cissy.

Cody frowned and tried to rub the paint off the skin around his eye.

'Come on Cody. Leave the poor funny-man alone.' Fiona laughed. 'Just a harmless prank. Let's keep walking.'

'Take care kiddos!' Sans waved to them.

'Thanks Sans. We all needed that laugh.' Chara said.

'Anytime, kid.'

The children continued walking, past echo flowers showing people's wishes and streams of bright, glowing water.

' “The power to take their SOULs”. This is the power the humans feared.' Cissy read another plaque as they walked past.

'So what, the humans attacked the monsters, simply because they were afraid of them?' Thomas asked.

'Even though the monsters would never hurt them? Yes indeed.' Chara nodded sadly. 'It's stupid but that's the way it was.'

'Hello little monster!' Aurora had bent down to look at a little monster, who was trying her best to remain hidden.

'Toot.' Went the little monster. The toot was sad and pathetic, but very in-tune.

'Let me hum you a song.' Aurora said, and began humming a tune that her family would always sing to her.

The monster uncovered her face, and hummed along. She hummed a beautiful melody.

'Thank you.' She whispered. 'My name is Shyren. I've been so self-conscious about my voice for so long, it feels much better to sing along with someone else.'

'Glad I could help! Thank you Shyren! Have a nice day! I love you!' Aurora waved goodbye as Shyren took off.

'This power has indeed no counter.' Cissy continued to read the plaques. 'Indeed, a human cannot take a monster's SOUL. When a monster dies, it's SOUL disappears. An incredible power would be needed to take the SOUL of a living monster.' She moved on to the next plaque. 'There is only one exception. The SOUL of a very special species of monster called a “Boss Monster.” A Boss Monster's SOUL is strong enough to persist after death, if only for a few moments. A human could absorb this SOUL, but this has never happened. And now it never will.'

Chara had gone ahead of the group, and all of a sudden had started crying. They were kneeling at the foot of a statue that had been slightly crumbled, and weathered by the rain. The structures at its feet seemed dry.

'What's wrong, Chara?' Aurora asked.  
'Oh it's um, this statue, that's all. It's a very sad statue.'

'It kind of looks like a little Toriel, if she had horns.' Aurora said kindly.

'Well the statue is of her son, Asriel.' Chara sniffed. 'He died, a long time ago. Same time, same reason, as me.'

Everyone sat down around Chara and stared at the statue, except Frisk, who had disappeared.

'This is a very beautiful statue. If Asriel were here, I'm sure he would be very proud of how you're helping us right now.' Fiona said.

'Thank you Fi.' Chara sniffed again. 'I'm so glad I met you guys, I never had friends like this at all while I was on the surface.'  
Frisk returned, and handed Chara an umbrella.

'An umbrella? What for?' Chara asked.  
Frisk pointed at the statue.

'Oh.' Chara whispered. Slowly, they placed the umbrella on top of the statue to protect it from the rain. Inside the statue, a music box began to play. A very slow, sad tune which repeated over and over again. Chara began to cry harder.

'This was Asriel's favourite song on the music box.' We joked around at home and called it “His Theme” even though the song was called “Memory.” Dad must have scuplted the statue, and Mom must have let the music box in there.'

'Why did they leave it out in the middle of the path in Waterfall where it's just gonna get rained on?'

'I don't know.' Chara shook their head. 'It might not have even been them who put it here.'

The children only sat there for a moment longer, listening to the music, then moved on.

*

'Hey hey guys! You got an umbrella? Cool!' Monster Kid came running out from underneath the shelter and darting under Aurora and Frisk's umbrella. 'Let's go!'  
The children walked past some echo flowers, and Monster Kid stopped them to tell them a story.

'So one time, the King (we had to call him Mr. Dreemurr) came to our school, and made us do a project where we had to take care of a flower.' Several people's heads turned. 'And it got me thinking: Man wouldn't it be cool if Undyne came to school? She could beat up ALL the teachers!'

'Oh cool. A flower you say?' Thomas asked.

'Well maybe not the teachers, Undyne's to cool to ever hurt an innocent person!' Monster Kid said, not taking any notice of Thomas' question.

They walked through a vast cavern, which gave a view of a massive castle in the distance.

'That's the King's castle.' Chara pointed. 'We just have to get there, then you can go home.'

'Wow.' Fiona breathed. 'Not long now, is it?'

'Aren't these stars beautiful?' Aurora breathed, taking it all in.

'Yes indeed they are.' Fiona said. 'You know, I wouldn't mind staying here for a while. Waterfall is a truly beautiful place. If it weren't for our parents I wouldn't want to leave at all.'

'I think that's what we all think at this stage Fi.' Thomas said.

They continued walking, until they came to a dead end.

'Ummm.... yo! This ledge is way too steep!' Monster Kid thought for a moment. 'Hey! Y'all wanna see Undyne too right? Climb on my shoulders.' Monster kid crouched underneath the ledge.

Everyone clambered onto Monster Kid's shoulders and pushed themselves onto the top of the ledge.

'What about you?' Aurora asked Monster Kid.

'Umm... Don't worry about me!' Monster Kid smiled. 'I always find a way through!' and with that, they turned around, and ran off. But not without falling flat on their face first.

'More plaques!' Cissy squealed excitedly and ran over to read them. 'The humans, afraid of our power, declared war on us. They attacked suddenly, and without Mercy.'

'Oh my, how awful.' Fiona said sadly.

'In the end, it could hardly be called a war. United, the humans were too strong, and us monsters, too weak. Not a single SOUL was taken, and countless monsters were turned to dust...'

'So what that fear was all for nothing, huh.' Thomas scoffed. 'Typical humans.'

'This is why I hate humanity.' Chara snarled through gritted teeth.

'Oh good another bridge.' Percy sighed, knowing what was coming. 'Well time to run again.'

They all walked out onto the bridge and were instantly surrounded by spears raising out of the ground. They all ran for their lives as spears kept being thrown through the ground beneath them. A spear went up through the bridge as Frisk stepped over it, causing it be sent through their foot. They screamed in pain, an incoherent scream that filled the air. Fiona scooped them up and carried them, running even harder and faster than before.

'It's a dead end.' Cissy said, panting for breath as the run was over. Undyne had lost them, and thus had stopped throwing spears.

'Well what do we do know?' Percy asked.

'Umm... guys...' Cody said. 'I'd say... turn around.'

They all turned, and found Undyne standing right in front of them. She towered over them with her immense height. She was at least 195 cm in height, 20 cm greater than Fiona's. She said nothing, but sent three spears down to sever the bridge the children were standing on. The bridge shook. It couldn't hold them. It collapsed, sending the children down into the bottomless abyss below.


	13. Dummy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Looks like Undyne really has the children down in the dumps. Quite literally. Chara explains who their parents and how the monsters were banished to the underground. Meanwhile, an angry presence looms amongst the junk...

'It seems like it came from over here.' Called a small voice. 'Oh! You've fallen down, haven't you? Here, get up.' The silhouette stuck out a furry hand. 'What's your name?'

A muffled voice responded incoherently.

'That's a nice name.' The voice was dropping off. 'My name is...' The voice faded away.

'No please! Come back!'

*

The children woke up, and discovered they had fallen onto a bed of golden flowers which lay on the water.

'Again with the golden flowers.' Cissy muttered, picking herself up.

'Everyone okay?' Chara asked. 'That was quite a fall you took. Thank God for those flowers.'

'Who was that?' Percy asked, rubbing his eyes, sitting up. 'That person in the dream.'

'You dreamt it too?' Cody asked in response. 'I did as well.'

'I think we all did...' Thomas said slowly, sticking out a hand to help Percy up. 'I don't know who it was.'

'What dream?' Chara asked. 'Who are you talking about?'

'We don't know love.' Fiona replied, picking up a still-unconscious Aurora. 'But while we were all unconscious, we all had this strange dream.'

'What was it about?' Chara demanded, desparate for answers.

'A voice came over to us. Said that we had “fallen down”.' Cissy explained. 'I couldn't see them, and they spoke with a voice I didn't recognise. But they had a small, white, furry hand.'

'Like... Toriel's...' Percy said slowly, as if realising something.

'That wasn't a dream, you guys.' Chara said.

'And that wasn't a young Toriel.' Fiona added.

'It was Asriel, wasn't it?' She asked.

'And my memory.' Chara nodded. 'Now I don't know what that means, and why you all dreamt it, and why you all landed on yet another bed of golden flowers, but something's fishy.'

'Yeah it's this pile of trash over there.' Cody pointed. 'It stinks of fish.'

'No that's not what they meant Cody-' Thomas explained, but held his nose anyway, for the stench was unbearable.

'Euughh!' Cissy shrieked. 'This water is filthy too!'

'We seemed to have landed in a garbage dump.' Percy picked up his glasses, which were sticking out of the water. 'But why put a garbage dump in the middle of a waterfall?' He asked, putting his glasses on.

'The water seems to flow from the ceiling of the cavern.' Cissy looked up, examining the huge waterfall above her. 'Occasionally, a piece of trash from the surface must flow through.'

'And fall into the bottomless below.' Chara floated out over the edge and looked down. Their ghostly form seemed to shudder, and they turned around and rejoined the group.

'Chara... Are you okay love?' Fiona asked.

'I'm fine.' They said, clearly not fine.

'Your legs...' Percy pointed. 'They're... growing back...'

Chara looked down, and sure enough, legs were starting to reform, ever so slowly. They now had knees and calves, with feet still to form. 'I... I might be able to become corporeal again.' They smiled, and tears began to roll down their face. 'Finally...'

'What does that mean?' Cody asked.

'It means I can live again. I just need to find a body to fuse too.'

'Well we have to find you a new one, because your former body would have long since decayed.' Fiona said sadly.

'I know.' Chara sighed and looked down the abyss again. 'Could we just- sit here for a while? I need to think.' They requested.

'Sure.' Fiona smiled. 'Aurora was getting heavy anyway.'

They all sit down on a patch of ground near the waterfall, overlooking the edge into the darkness. Above them, the crystals on the cavern's roof shone like stars. An overly-large one was placed so that it shone like the moon. Frisk sat between Fiona and Chara and rested their head on Fiona's lap next to Aurora's head and went to sleep.

'Okay. It's about time I explained to you all why I came here and what happened.' Chara said. 'Back on the surface world, I was treated badly by the humans. All because I made a fuss in front of the school history teacher one day, complaining about how the monsters didn't deserve what happened to them and that they should be freed.'  
Fiona nodded, listening intently.

'That's all the school was feeding me, was anti-monster propaganda. Saying that the monsters wanted to kill us all and feed off our powerful SOULs. I could see through it all, but everyone else didn't. They all picked on me, it doesn't help that I'm agender either, because they all picked on that as well.' Chara put their hands between their thighs.

'To them I was a freak, I disobeyed the gender binary, or the “norm” and I disobeyed the supremacy of humans over monsters. They bullied me, everyone. My classmates, the teachers, my parents. Everyone. I was an only child too, so I didn't have any siblings to go to. It was practically abuse. I decided it wasn't worth living with all that, not in a world without love. So I decided to erase myself from existence, and take my ideas with me. I would rather die than change my ideals for the sake of “fitting in”. No-one accepted me for who I was. No-one.'

'So you climbed Mt. Ebbot.' Thomas said, shaking.

'I climbed Mt. Ebott.' Chara nodded. 'I climbed up to a massive crevasse, and jumped. I wasn't planning on surviving. I even failed to kill myself. I landed in a garden, on a bed of golden flowers.'

'And that's where you found Asriel.' Fiona said.

'Yes. He took me in, he took me in when no-one else would, and gave me a home. A home with loving parents, and a loving brother. They didn't care that I was agender, although it took Asgore a while to give me my proper pronouns. He's very forgetful, but a kind-hearted soul, I knew he wasn't being mean. Every night they would read me stories, stories of the underground. The population was much smaller back then, only a couple hundred monsters. The war was practically genocide. Not many monsters survived.'

'What were the stories about?' Cissy, a bookworm, asked.

'The war. The war of humans and monsters.' Chara answered. 'Asgore fought in that war. Toriel looked after the sick and wounded, and the children. It's how they met. Asgore came in one day, very injured. The boss monsters had the front line, and of course Asgore being the strongest of boss monsters, was named General, or King as you know him now. Dust was pouring out of a hole punctured by a lance in his abdomen. Toriel fed him and tended to his wounds. She's an amazing nurse. Dr. Gaster, the main medic, was operating on him. Toriel looked after him in recovery. “I'll never forget what she said to me.” Dad would say. “When the war is over, we shall be together. Always. And then she would smile at me, but could never give me the affection we both craved. It was as painful as the stab wound given to me.” My dad was a strong fighter. He helped save hundreds of lives, he and Gerson, his second-in-command.'

'Then what happened?' Thomas asked.

'The buttercups happened. I cannot tell you that story r-right now.' Chara said. 'I cannot explain that story right now.' Chara's voice was shaking.

'It's okay love. You don't have to.' Fiona smiled. 'We might find out the answers on our own, and that will not be a problem.'

'Thank you Fiona. We should keep going, I don't want to sit here and talk anymore.' Chara floated up, standing up straight.

'One thing I must ask though,' Percy narrowed his eyes at Chara. 'Who's the flower?'

'I-I don't know.' Chara lied. 'Please stop asking me questions!' Chara's eyes flashed red and they made a very meancingly scary smile.

'Okay okay, jeez.' Percy put up his hands in defense. 'I'm sorry.'

Chara huffed, and turned around and floated ahead, disappearing behind a large pile of trash. They followed him.

'Hey cool! A traning dummy!' Cody yelled. 'I can practise some punches!' He threw a few punches at the dummy. 'Take that, stupid dummy!' He grinned. He felt good.

'Come on Cody, let's keep going.' Fiona laughed, then stopped suddenly. The dummy seemed to be moving. 'Umm... we better go.' She said, suddenly scared.

'Not so fast!' The dummy said. It's eyes flashed red, and sank into the water. It popped up in front of the children, blocking their way. 'FOOL!' It screamed, looking at Cody. 'YOU THINK YOU CAN HURT ME? I AM A GHOST WHO LIVES INSIDE A DUMMY. MY COUSIN USED TO LIVE INSIDE A DUMMY TOO! UNTIL YOU CAME ALONG! WHEN THEY SAW YOU COMING, THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE IN FOR A NICE CHAT! BUT YOU JUST PUNCHED THEM INSTEAD! OOOH! HUMANS! I'LL SPOOK YOUR SOULS RIGHT OUT OF YOUR BODY!'

'Oh God here we go again.' Cissy rolled her eyes.

'I'll use your SOUL to cross the barrier!' It said, its words clearly aimed at Cody. It fired a few cotton balls at the children.

'Try ripping his head off!' Thomas yelled at Cody.

Cody ran up to the dummy, and using all his strength, ripped the dummy's head off. The body remained floating in the air. 'Hah!' Cody laughed triumphantly, only to have his arm bitten by the dummy's severed head. 'Ow!' He cried, dropping the head.

'FOOL!' The dummy's head floated back onto its body. 'I am a ghost! Physical attacks won't hurt me!'

'Crap it's incoporeal!' Chara cried.

'I'LL STAND IN THE WINDOW OF A FANCY STORE!' The dummy continued its monologue. 'Yeah. That'll avenge my cousin. What was their name again?'

The children shrugged.

'IT DOESN'T MATTER! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!' The dummy laughed evilly. 'FUTILE FUTILE FUTILE!' The dummy shrieked, throwing more cotton balls at the children. It sent little cotton minions to attack the children.

'WE HAVE TO USE IT'S OWN MAGIC AGAINST IT!' Chara cried. 'IT'S THE ONLY WAY!'

The children all dodged and weaved, and the minions' cotton balls struck the dummy.

'OWW! YOU DUMMIES!' The dummy cried. 'WATCH WHERE YOU'RE AIMING YOUR MAGIC ATTACKS! OH FORGET IT! YOU'RE ALL FIRED! YOU'RE ALL BEING REPLACED!' The dummy laughed. The minions all floated away sadly. 'HAHAHAHAHA! NOW YOU'LL SEE MY TRUE POWER! RELYING ON PEOPLE WHO AREN'T GARBAGE!' Mechinical whirrs filled the room. 'DUMMIES! MAGIC MISSILE!'

A group of little robot dummies fired little missiles, which the humans dodged, but they came back and all hit them, exploding on them.

'OW!' They all cried, the little explosions burning their skin, and Chara's ghostly arm.  
'HAHAHAHAH!' The dummy shrieked with laughter and started bouncing up and down in the air, as if it were doing an armless ska dance.

'USE THE MISSILES TO HIT THE DUMMY!' Chara cried.

As the dummy fired more missiles at the humans, they all ran around in a circle, and sure enough, the missiles flew straight at the dummy.

'OWW! YOU GUYS ARE EVEN WORSE THAN THE LAST GUYS! YOU'RE FIRED!' The dummy laughed nervously. 'WHO CARES! WHO CARES! WHO CARES! I DON'T NEED FRIENDS!' The dummy summoned a magic knife. 'I'VE GOT KNIVES!' The dummy sent the knife at Cody, which he easily dodged. 'I'm uuh, out of knives.' The dummy muttered. 'BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER! YOU CAN'T HURT ME AND I CAN'T HURT YOU! YOU'LL BE STUCK FIGHTING ME FOREVER! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!'


	14. Pathetic House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Napstablook to the rescue! The depressed but friendly ghost is just looking for someone to spend time with. Chara, who seemed happy and thankful to meet a friend like him, now seems a little despondent, and the children must continue on their journey.... But first, go 2 tem shop! YAya!

The dummy's laugh was cut short by a stream of tears floating down onto it.

'OW! WHAT IS THIS?' It cried. 'EWW! ACID RAIN?! THAT'S IT, I'M OUTTA HERE!' The dummy flew off, and the humans rescuer came into view.

'oohh... hello....' It called.

'NAPSTABLOOK!' The children all cried.

'Boy am I happy to see you!' Thomas thanked. 'You saved us!'

'really?... oh..... sorry... as soon as I came over.... your friend immediately left....' Napstablook lamented. 'sorry.... I just wanted to say hi.... oh nooooooo...............' The ghost started to float away.

'No Napstablook! You're wrong! You saved us! He was hurting us!' Cissy tried to reassure the anxious ghost. They turned back around.

'really?... oh.... um... well.... my house is just up ahead.... in case you wanna see... or in case.... you don't....'

'We'd love to come visit you!' Fiona beamed.

'oh... okay...' Napstablook said. 'well... take your time... my house is the grey one....' They floated away, up the middle path ahead of them.

'Well. Thank goodness for him, ae?' Fiona inhaled audibly. 'I feel a calming tranquility here.'

'Tis nice isn't it?' Cissy agreed. 'Let's go have a look around.'

The phone Toriel gave Frisk rang, and they picked it up and put it on speaker.

'Hello humans!' Papyrus voice rang through the phone loudly, startling Aurora awake. 'I'm just come to check up on you! Where are you? Are you alright?'

'We're fine!' Fiona lied. 'A little scratched up, no thanks to your fish friend.'

'Well I'm sorry about her, you see, her opinion of you is very... murder-y.' The skeleton replied. 'But I'll try the best I can to protect you from her!'

'Thank you Papyrus!'

'So where are you? Just out of curiousity.'

'We're near Napstablook's house.'

'Napstablook?!' Papyrus seemed to recognise the name. 'That's Undyne's next door neighbour!'

The children all turned pale white.

'Her house is up to the left, Napstablook's and their cousin's house is up the middle, and their family farm is to the right!' He explained.

'Oh and to the very left path, is the bird's house!'

The children all looked left, and saw a little yellow canary, sitting on the edge of the path, by a river.

'Isn't that the same bird we saw before?' Percy whispered to Thomas.

'It is, and look!' Thomas pointed. 'That's Sans' telescope! But he's not there.'

'Must have gone off to work.'

'Actually, his shift(s) are over for today,' Papyrus sighed. 'Despite not doing any work.'

'Hey!' Came Sans voice, muffled through the phone, as if he were speaking from a distance.

'Anyway! I better go now! Have fun children!' Papyrus hung up.

'Well it's nice to know he cares.' Thomas shrugged his shoulders.  
The children all walked up the middle path to Napstablook's house, and knocked on the door.

'ooh... you actually came...' Napstablook opened the door. 'didn't expect that... make yourself at home...' They were wearing a pair of big black headphones, wirelessly connected to his computer. 'there's ghost sandwhiches in the fridge if you're hungry...'  
Frisk tried to take a bite of the sandwich, but it phased right through them.

'I'll eat it.' Chara said and took a bite. The bread was very stale and a little mouldy. Chara made a face. 'It's very nice, thank you Napstablook.' Chara lied.

'really... it's a little old.... i'd say a few weeks... but i'm glad you like it...' Napstablook responded. 'hey.... umm... after I eat.... I like to lie on the floor and feel like garbage... wanna... join me?' They asked.

'Sure!' Fiona asked, lying down the ground next to the ghost.

'umm... just move when you wanna... I guess...' The ghost sighed.

The children all went to sleep. When they woke up, Napstablook had vanished.

'Where could they have gone?'

'I dunno, but check out these CD's!' Thomas said. 'It looks like mixtapes from Napstablook. Let's listen.' He put the CD into the player and pressed play.

'Eww it sounds... awful.' Aurora covered her ears.

'This one's called “Spooktune.” ' Thomas said. 'Let's try this one. “Spookwave.” '

'Not as bad, but still pretty bad.' Percy frowned. 'They're both really spooky.'

'I don't know, I kind of like them.' Chara smiled. 'Must be a ghost thing.'

'We should get going.' Cody said, opening the door and walking out.  
The children walked on, into a shop owned by a turtle.

'Wa ha ha!' The turtle cried. It was very old and could only stand with the assistance of a stick. 'Fancy seeing you kids here! Undyne came in here, looking for people just like you!'

'Don't tell her we've been here okay?' Fiona whispered.

'Hmm... If you buy a few things, I'm sure I might let my memory slip.' He winked.

Cissy whispered to Fiona, pointing at the back wall, which was lined with crystals, which took the shape of the emblem, the prophecy.

'Wa ha ha! That there is the prophecy!' The turtle turned. 'Me and the Queen came up with that design ourselves! Of couse I've forgotten why, my memory is a bit shot.'

'You've met the queen?' Cissy asked.

'Of couse I have! I'm very old you know. I served in the war with her former husband, King Fluffybuns!'

'You're Gerson!' Thomas cried.

'Wa ha hah! Indeed I am!' Gerson cried. 'It's nice to know the schools are still teaching monster history.' He looked at Fiona. 'Now, are any of you kids gonna buy anything?'

'What's in those little thermoses there?' Fiona asked.

'Sea Tea! It's tea made from seaweed!' Gerson replied. 'It's very rejuvenating! Very helpful if you get into a fight.' He winked at the children.

Fiona and Thomas looked at each other.

'Buy them.' Thomas said. 'We could use them.'

'And who knows? They might be as nice as he says.' Fiona added.

'We'll take seven.'  
'Wa ha ha!' Gerson laughed. 'That'll be 18 G each, so 126 G total!'

Fiona collected the money from everyone and handed them over.

'I made those thermoses myself you know.' Gerson said. 'Very cheap to make, but very good quality!' Gerson beamed proudly. 'That's why I give them for free along with the tea. Enjoy kids! Bye bye for now!'

'Thank you!'

The children carried onward, past echo flowers and more plaques.

'Hurt, beaten, and fearful for our lives, we surrended to the humans.' Cissy read. 'Seven of their greatest magicians sealed us underground with a magic spell. Anything can enter through the seal, but only beings with a powerful SOUL can leave.'

'Like us.' Percy nodded.  
'There is only one way to reverse this spell. If a huge power, equivalent to seven human SOULs, attacks the barrier, it will be destroyed.'

'Oh God there's seven of us.' Cody's eyes widened.

'No wonder Undyne and Asgore are after us.' Thomas nodded.

'But this cursed place his no entrances or exits. There is no way a human could come here. We will remain trapped down here forever.'

'Goodness gracious, that's a little bleak.' Fiona said.

'That's all of them for now from what I can see.' Cissy said.

The children continued walking, and they came to a marked path, surrounded by mushrooms.

'Hey what's down here...' Cody said, leaving the marked path and walking through the leaves.

'Cody don't-' Fiona started to say, but he already disappeared.

Frisk followed him, and so the others were forced to as well.

'What the heck is this?' Thomas asked, raising an eyebrow.

They had come to a little village filled with... cats?

'Hoi!' One of the cats bounded up to the children. 'I'm Temmie! And dis is my friend Temmie!' Like all the other Temmies, she had white fur, a blue sweater, and black hair on the top of her head. Three other Temmies bounded up to them.

'Hoi I'm Temmie, and dis is my friend Temmie!'

'Hoi I'm Temmie, don't forget my friend!'

'Well hello there Tem-' Fiona started to say.

'Hi.' It interrupted. 'I'm Bob.' Bob nodded to them and walked away. 'Good day, children.'  
The children all looked at each other in disbelief.

'Let's get out of here.' Cissy suggested.

'Don forget Tem Shop!' Temmie #1 called.

'yaYA! Tem agrees. Coot hoomans must go to Tem Shop!' Temmie #2 shouted.

'Be as it you may be, leave them be Temmies.' Bob said. 'Good luck out there youths.'

'Thank you?' Percy said, still confused.

The children ran off along up the path, and kept running, past glowing crystals, across a stream, to an echo flower. It was dark, and a dead end. The children had nowhere to go.

'Poke the echo flower.' Fiona panted. 'It might help us find a way out.'

Frisk poked the flower with its stick. It spoke slowly, and only said two words.

'Behind. You.'


	15. Spear of Justice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The moment of truth has come. The children must face their greatest foe so far. But what happens when the naive and very excitable Monster Kid comes to help? And is Thomas a little too trigger-happy?

'Seven.' A voice, womanly yet deep, called from behind the children. The children immediately knew who it was. They turned around to face her.

'Seven human SOULs.' Undyne spoke through her visor. 'With the power of seven human SOULs, our king, King ASGORE Dreemurr, will become a God.' She spoke deliberately menacingly, as if trying to scare the children. Unfortunately, it was working. 'With that power, ASGORE can shatter the barrier. He will finally take the surface back from humanity...' She paused. 'And give them back the pain and suffering we have endured.'

The children all gulped.

'Understand, humans? This is your only chance at redemption. Give up your SOULs, or I'll tear them from your bodies.' She summoned a glowing spear into her hands, and charged towards the children. They all shielded their heads. There was nowhere to go. They were all toast.

'Undyne!!! I'll help you fight!!!' Monster Kid screamed with glee and ran in between her and the children. They turned to Frisk. 'YO!!! You did it!!! Undyne is RIGHT in front of you!!!' They were freaking out. 'You've got front row seats to her fight!!!' They kept turning around, looking back and forward between Undyne and the children. 'Wait... Who's she fighting?'

Undyne grabbed their ear, and pulled them away.

'H-hey!' They cried. 'You aren't gonna tell my parents about this are you?'

'She's gone.' Fiona said, and everyone opened their eyes and sighed in relief. 

'That was too close.' Thomas said.

'God we were all trapped.' Percy said. 'Next time we face her, let's not back up into a corner.'

'It seems the way is that way.' Cissy pointed at the path, now light up by glowing crystals.

'Undyne must have darkened them to try and corner us.'

The children all walked up the path, lined with more echo flowers and a single plaque.

'However...' Cissy read. 'There is a prophecy. The Angel, The One Who Has Seen the Surface... They will return, and the underground will go empty. End story.'

'Return?' Percy asked. 'But we've never been here before.'

'Someone has.' Thomas indicated to Chara.

'What are you looking at me for?' Chara's eyes shifted, darting around all the children. 'I can't do this.'

'I think you might have to.' Fiona said sadly.

'I'm sorry we have to pin you with this responsibility.

'I-I don't think I can do it.' Chara shook their head. 'No way. Not again. Not after last time.'

'Then we'll just have to go home and leave the monsters trapped here.' Cissy sighed.

'Single file now!' Fiona sang, trying to change the subject. 'This bridge here is very narrow and it don't think it can take all our weight. So one at a time now. I'll go first.' She picked up Aurora and carried her over the bridge. All the children followed, with Frisk at the back.

'Yo!' A voice from behind them called. Frisk stopped and turned around to see Monster Kid.

'Yo, I know I'm not supposed to be here, but...' They coughed, as if they weren't ready to say what they needed to say next. 'I wanna ask you something. Man, I've never had to ask anyone this before... Umm... Y-yo, You're a human right? Haha.'

Frisk looked down sadly as their answer.

'Man! I knew it!' Monster Kid looked down too. 'Well, I know it now, I mean... Undyne told me, um, “Stay away from those humans.” So, like, umm, I guess that makes us enemies or something?'

Frisk shook their head.

'But I kinda stink at that, haha. Yo, say something mean so I can hate you?' Monster Kid asked.

Frisk shook their head again, harder this time.

'Yo, what? So I have to do it?' Monster Kid gulped. 'Here goes nothing... Yo, I... I hate your guts.' They turned around. 'Man, I... I'm such a turd. I'm... I'm gonna go home now.'

They turned, and ran off. Frisk turned around, and walked towards the others slowly, crying.

'Y-y-yo! Wait! Help! I tripped!' Monster Kid screamed.

Frisk turned around, and saw that Monster Kid had fallen off the bridge and was hanging off by their tail.

'Clang clang.' Undyne had appeared on the bridge, and looked over at Monster Kid.

Frisk acted quickly. They ran over to Monster Kid and pulled on their tail. They pulled them up and back onto the bridge.

'Clang clang.' Undyne stepped towards Frisk.

'Y-y-yo...' Monster Kid stammered, very scared. 'Dude...' They could feel their heart pounding in their chest. 'I-if y-you wanna hurt my friend...' Monster Kid looked up at Undyne, feeling more confident. 'You're gonna have to go through me first.'

Undyne stepped back, shocked, but turned around and walked away. Frisk smiled. Monster Kid turned back around.

'She's gone...' Monster Kid said. 'Yo, you really saved my skin.' They thanked. 'Guess being enemies was just a nice thought, haha. We'll just have to be friends instead...' They looked back at where Undyne had just left. 'Man, I should REALLY go home. I bet my parents are worried sick about me! Later, dude!' They turned and ran off down the bridge.

Frisk walked over and rejoined the group.

'That was very brave of you Frisk.' Cody congratulated, patting Frisk on the back.

'And very kind.' Fiona said.

'Monster Kid's a very nice kid. They didn't deserve to die.' Thomas tipped his hat at Frisk, very proud.

'Not to mention Monster Kid's intergrity.' Cissy gushed. 'They stood up to Undyne, even though she was his idol. They weren't afraid to stay true to their thoughts.'

'I'm glad you waited for them!' Aurora giggled.

'You and Monster Kid both worked very hard. You strived through your fears.' Percy smiled. 'I'm proud of you both.'

'We all are.' Chara said, laying their hand on Frisk's shoulder. 'You held fast to your determination.'

Frisk smiled at all their wonderful friends. They gestured forward, indicating that they must continue.

'Yes. We'll still have to face her.' Thomas said. 'I'm not looking forward to it.'

They walked up to a vast cavern.

'Humans!' Undyne called from the top of the cliff, over the cave. 'Seven. Seven human SOULs. That's all we need to ensure our freedom. Understand? Through all seven of your SOULs, this world will be transformed, First, however, as is customary for those who make it this far, I shall tell you the tragic tale of our people.' She breathed in. 'It all started, long ago...' She hesitated. 'Forget it.'

'Wait what-' Percy stammered.

'YOU KNOW WHAT?! SCREW IT!' She screamed. 'WHY SHOULD I TELL YOU THAT STORY, WHEN YOU'RE ABOUT TO DIE! NGAAAAAHHHHHHHH!'

Everyone jumped back. Undyne tore off her helmet, revealing a blue scaly face, a red ponytail which blew in the wind, two sharp yellow teeth that stood out like fangs, and two glowing yellow eyes.

'She really is a fish lady.' Cody muttered.

'You! You're all standing in the way of everyone's Hopes and Dreams! Alphys' history books made me think humans were cool, with their giant robots and flowery swordswomen...'

'That doesn't strike me as accurate-' Cissy whispered.

'BUT YOU!' Undyne interrupted. 'You're just a coward! Hiding behind that kid so you could run away from me again! And let's not forget your wimpy goody-two-shoes-schtick!'

'I ain't got no schtick-' Thomas retorted.

'I don't even have shoes...' Percy muttered.

'Oooh! I'm making a huge difference by hugging random strangers!' She mocked.

'You know what would be more valuable to everyone?'

'If we kissed them as well?' Fiona suggested.

'What? No-' Undyne shook her head. 'IF YOU WERE DEAD!'

'Now that's a little harsh.' Thomas said.

'That's right humans!' Undyne ignored him.'Your continued existence is a crime! Your lives is all that stands between us and our freedom! Right now, I can feel everyone's hearts pounding together! Everyone's been waiting their whole lives for this moment! But we're not nervous at all. When everyone puts their hearts together, they can't lose!' She pointed to the children. 'Now, humans! Let's end this, right here, right now. I'll show you determined monsters can be! Step forward when you're ready! Fuhuhuhuhuh!'

The wind was howling. It was hot and damp. It seemed to blow from the cave and from over the top of it. Behind Undyne, a large building flooded with red light seemed to hum in the distance. The children felt confident. They were ready. Thomas took a step forward. He stood in front of the others, as if guarding them.

'Alright! You ready?' Let's go!' Undyne jumped from off the top of the rock and aimed her spear at Thomas. She swiped her spear through the children. All the children's SOULs started to change colour.

'Green?' Cissy asked. 'What is this?'

'I can't move my legs.' Aurora wailed.

'Neither can I.' Cody tried to take a step forward, but it took him all his strength and he couldn't do it.

'As long as you're GREEN you can't escape!' Undyne smirked. 'Unless you learn to face danger head on, you'll never defeat me!'

'What does that mean-' Thomas started to ask, when all around them bullets in the shape of tiny spears starting firing at them from all four directions.

'Here.' Undyne said, giving Thomas and Percy sheilds in the shape of spears. 'You might need this. Fuhuhuhu!'

Thomas stood at the front, and Percy at the back. 'You take the ones from behind and the right side, I'll take the ones on the left and front!' Thomas called.

'Got it!'

Together, they were quite a team. They managed to block all of the bullets.

'Ha!' Thomas mocked. 'You'll never defeat us as long as we work together!'

'NGAAAHHH!' Undyne screamed, swiping her large spear. The children's SOULs reverted back to their original colours.

'I can move!' Cody jumped in the air.

'NOW RUN!' Fiona screamed, taking Frisk and Aurora's hands and jostling past Undyne.

'Hey! Get back here!' Undyne turned and ran after them.

The children bolted as fast as they could through the cave, but Unydne was faster. She jumped towards them and swiped her spear at them, turning their SOULs green again.

'You won't get away from me that easily!' Undyne smirked again, and sent more bullets at the children, much faster this time.

'Ow!' Percy cried as a bullet struck his face, grazing him.

'Fuhuhuhu!' Undyne shrieked with laughter.' Your lives end here, humans!'

'Not if we can help it!' Thomas scowled.' Keep holding on!' He said to Percy.

They worked harder to deflect all the bullets, meanwhile Fiona had the others crowded in underneath her.

'I promise she will not hurt you!' She reassured the young children. Cissy nodded and smiled.

'NGAAAHH!' Undyne screamed again, and once more changed the colour of the humans' SOULs.

Immediately they bolted, even faster than before. They ran past an electronic sign which read: 'Welcome to Hotland.' The phone in Frisk's pocket started to ring.

'Hello? Papyrus, we're in the middle of something here.' Fiona answered, very short of breath.

'Hello children!' Papyrus' cheery voice called through the phone. 'I was just ringing to ask if you wanted to meet up me at Undyne's house! I think y'all and her would make great pals!'

'Oh I'm very sure of that!' Fiona yelled, ducking as a spear flew past her head. 'We'll meet you there!' She lied and hung up the phone.

The children ran out of the cave, and was met with a huge wave of heat. They arrived at what seemed like the centre of a volcano. Bits of rock stood out of large pools of magma. The rocks were laid out as their path. To their left, there was yet another sentry station, with Sans sleeping on the counter.

'SANS! WAKE UP!' Undyne shrieked and shook him. 'OH FORGET IT!' She kept running, and swiping her spear.

'Huff... puff...' Percy panted. 'I c-can't do this. The heat... it's... I think I'm having an asthma attack.' Percy came to a stop, and Undyne saw this as her opportunity.

'Keep going Percy!' Thomas shouted, but it was too late.

'I can't move my legs!' Percy cried. Undyne had turned his SOUL green and was closing in on him.

'You're dead human!' She raised her spear up and aimed it right towards his SOUL.

'Bang!' A gunshot fired. Undyne clutched her left eye and moaned. She collapsed, and fell onto the bridge. Dust was pouring from her eye.

'Get your hands off my Percy, you bitch.' Thomas snarled, his gun in his hand, smoking.

'T-thomas...' Fiona stammered. 'What have you done?'

'I saved his fucking life is what I did.'

'LANGUAGE!' Fiona shrieked. She ran over to Percy and Undyne. 'Are you alright Percy? Can you move?'

'Ye-yeah. I can now.' Percy was shaking, terrified at what his best friend at just done.

'T-thanks f-for saving me.' He walked right past Thomas, barely acknowledging him.

'W-wait! P-Percy!' Thomas chased after him and hugged him. 'Are you okay?'

'N-no. I'm not' Percy shook him off. 'No thanks to you.'

'Percy, she was about to kill you.' Thomas retorted.

'SHE DIDN'T DESERVE A BULLET IN HER EYE! WHERE'S YOUR SENSE OF JUSTICE?!' Percy screamed at him.

'I...' Thomas stepped backwards. The sound of the humming nearby red building filled the space. 'Oh God, what have I done?' Thomas put his head in hands, still holding on to the gun. He collapsed onto his knees.

'Undyne, are you alright?' Fiona called. 'Here.' Fiona took the cup of water from Frisk's hands, which they found at the water cooler on the other side of the bridge, and poured it onto Undyne's head. Her scales were very dry. Sans, startled by all the commotion, woke up.

'What in bone's name happened here?' Sans recoiled.

'Thomas shot Undyne in the eye.' Fiona accused. 'I think she's dying.'

'Take her to Dr. Alphys.' Sans said. 'She'll know what to do. Her lab is just up ahead.'


	16. Alphys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh! Undyne is fatally injured, and Dr. Alphys, the Royal Scientist, is the only one who can save her! Only problem is, she doesn't believe she can do it! And who this mysterious friend of Alphys'? And why has Alphys been tracking the humans' movements?

Fiona, Sans, and Thomas carried Undyne into the laboratory. It was dark, it didn't seem like anyone was in.

'What do we do?' Cissy whispered. 'The door was open, but it doesn't look like anyone's here.'

'She'll be here.' Sans reassured. 'She hardly leaves this place. She's just either in the bathroom or upstairs.'

Sure enough, the bathroom door opened, and a small figure stepped out and flicked the light switch.

'O-oh my G-god.' The stranger cried. She spoke in a small, stammering voice, as if she were permanently nervous. She was short, slightly chubby, and had yellow dinosaur scales and a long yellow tail. She wore a clean white lab coat, and a pair of small rectangular-rimmed glasses. 'W-what h-h-happened? Undyne- a-a-are y-y-you o-okay?'

'She's dying, Alphys.' Sans said. 'She needs your help.'

'W-what? M-me?' Alphys stammered and turned white. 'N-no I c-can't.

'Yes you can.' Sans said. 'You helped me out once.' He pointed to his own left eye.

'B-but w-what i-if I s-screw u-up?' Alphys broke down. 'E-everything I-I d-do is a t-terrible mistake.'

'What's wrong with her? You said she could help us.' Cissy snarled a whisper to Sans.

'She suffers from severe anxiety. Leave her alone.' He snarled back. 'And she's damn good when she sets her mind to it. The hard part is just setting her mind to it.' He turned back to Alphys. 'If you don't help her now, she'll die, and I know how much she means to you.'

'Y-yeah. I c-couldn't l-live w-without her.' Alphys seemed to finding her confidence. 'Okay. I'll try.' She breathed. Thomas gulped guiltily.

'That's the spirit!' Sans winked at her. 'I'll take her upstairs and strip off her armour, then I'll be on my way.'

'T-thank you Sans.' Alphys looked down at the ground and sighed.

'Hi, umm, Dr. Alphys.' Fiona hesitated. 'I'm Fiona, and this is Aurora, Frisk, Cody, Cissy, Percy, Chara the ghost, and...' She paused. 'Thomas.'

'H-hi! N-nice t-to m-meet you a-all! B-before I g-go upstairs and attend to Undyne, I'll need to tell you some stuff, and ask a couple of questions.'

'Go right ahead.'

'Firstly, w-what happened to Undyne?'  
The silence that filled the room was defeaning.

'S-she...' Fiona started. 'She got shot.'

'What? How? By who?' Alphys started to freak out, her hands were shaking and her glasses were falling off her nose.

'I-I shot her.' Thomas confessed, handing over the weapon.

'Why? Why would you do such a thing? Undyne is the most amazing person ever!' Alphys started to cry.

'She tried to kill Percy, and I couldn't let that happen.'

'But why the eye? Why not somewhere non-lethal?' Alphys cried. 'You know how hard eyes are to operate on? I'll need some super drug to keep her alive.'

Frisk perked up, and pointed to their SOUL, which was glowing deep red.

'W-what? I-I don't understand.'

'Frisk happens to have the strongest SOUL among us.' Fiona explained relutanctly, knowing where this was going. 'They're asking you to take some determination from their SOUL and inject it into Undyne.'

'O-oh my God...' Alphys cried. 'I-I can't do that! It might kill them!'

Frisk shook their head, and indicated with their hands that Alphys only needed to take a little.

'O-okay.' Alphys said. 'Go upstairs and sit with Undyne. I'll try.'

Frisk nodded and went upstairs. A click and a whoosh indicated that Sans had left.

'O-okay, but before you guys leave-' Alphys started to say.

'We'll wait down here.' Fiona said.

'O-okay h-hold on.' Alphys grabbed her cellphone and rang someone.

'Can you hear what she's saying?' Cissy whispered to Fiona.

'It sounded like... “Not now we'll have to do it later.” ' Fiona whispered back.

'Any idea who it was? Or what she's talking about?'

'Not a clue. But whoever it was, their bloody speaking volume is reminiscient of that of Papyrus'.'

The children walked around the downstairs of the lab while they waited. There was a large monitor which displayed a live feed of the lab. It seemed to follow the children. Next to it lay a desk, with an old computer, tons of bowls of old noodles, crumbs, and a couple action figurines of anime catgirls sitting on top of it.

'Nerd.' Cody said, and Cissy laughed.

'There's nothing here but instant noodles and soda.' Fiona frowned, closing the fridge door.  
Thomas was sitting on the floor, his knees shaking. 'I-I wonder how Undyne and F-Frisk are doing.'

'They'll be fine love.' Fiona came and sat down next to him. 'Look, I see now that you were only trying to protect your friend.'

'Heh...'

'I know how much Percy means to you. You two have been friends the longest.' Fiona and Thomas looked up, to see Percy examining the bathroom door with a skeptical eye.

'I don't know what I'd do without him, Fi. Or any of you for that matter.' He sniffed, trying to hold back tears. 'I just got so angry... I didn't mean to-' He stopped. 'I just wanted to stop her.'

'I know love.' Fiona pulled him into a hug. 'You will have to make it up to her though. Alphys will probably persuade her to leave us alone.'

'Yeah... hopefully.'

'Papyrus rang me during the fight, and said we should all go visit her.'

'What really?'

'Yes. I don't know what to say. How do I tell Papyrus that his leader and closest friend is probably dying and has lost her left eye?'

'He doesn't seem like the kind of guy to hold a grudge. He'd probably just forgive me. Bless him.' Thomas started to cry. 'How do I tell her I'm sorry Fi?'

'It's gonna be hard, but you just have to try.'

'O-okay. I think it's d-done.' Alphys came downstairs, holding Frisk's hand. They seemed slightly woozy, but other than that they were their usual smiling self.

'Frisk!' Thomas ran over and hugged them. 'I'm so glad you're okay. Is Undyne alright?' He asked Alphys.

'She's alive. She'll be fine. She just has to wear an eyepatch from now on.'

'Oh my god...'

'S-she's still unconscious, but her breathing rate is normal.'

'I'm so glad Sans recommended you.' Fiona beamed. 'You are a literal life-saver.'

'R-really? A-am I?' She was shocked to hear such kind words.

'Oh don't be like that.' Cissy said. 'Gosh you sound like Napstablook.'

'N-napstablook...' She seemed to recognise the name. 'Crap that reminds me! We both gotta do something children! I have to talk to a friend of mine, and you gotta meet up Papyrus at Undyne's house!'

'How did you know that?' Percy asked, tilting his head.

'O-oh umm... I m-mean.' She sighed, and pointed to the monitor. 'I've been tracking your location since you left the Ruins. Seeing what you have been up to, e.t.c.'

'But why?'

'T-to m-make sure pe-people l-like P-papyrus and U-Undyne...' She hesiated. 'To k-know w-where y-you were?' She grimaced. 'S-sorry. But seeing you on the screen really made me root for y'all! So that's why I've started to help you instead! D-Despite... you know...'

'Undyne.' Thomas sighed and looked at the ground.

'But it's okay!' Alphys reassured him. 'Thanks to Frisk's d-d-det-term-m-min-nation...' She stammered on that word for a long time, as if it were a trigger. She breathed in and continued. 'Undyne is now stronger than ever.'

'Oh crap.' Thomas said to himself, his eyes widening. 'W-we should go.'

'Oh! If you need quick transport t-to Waterfall,' Alphys called after Thomas as he ran out the door. 'Make sure you go by riverperson! I-It's m-much quicker.'

'The riverperson?' Cissy asked.  
'Y-yeah. It's our form of public transport between Hotland, Waterfall, and Snowdin. The Hotland dock is just out the door, and then to your left.'

'I'll go get Undyne.' Fiona said.

'I'll get her armour.' Cissy said.  
They each carried their respective weights down to the Riverperson.

'Hello children! I am the Riverman, or am I the Riverwoman? It really doesn't matter.' They shrugged. They wore a long dark blue cloak, with a hood. The hood was concealing their face, making it look dark and creepy. They spoke with a kind, sincere voice. 'I love to ride in my boat. Care to join me?'

'Sure!'

'Where will we go today?'

'Waterfall please.'

'Then we're off.'

They all clambered into the boat, and the boat set sail to Waterfall.

'Tra la la. Beware of the man who speaks in hands.' The Riverperson sang. Chara's eyes widened as they floated alongside the boat.  
The boat came to a stop, and the children got off.

'Come back another time, or don't. Tra la la.' The Riverperson sang.

'Thank you!' Cissy called to the Riverperson.

'Hey this is Gerson's shop!' Cody said excitedly. 'We're right next door!'

'Thank God for that.' Fiona muttered, Undyne dropping in her hands.

They walked up towards Undyne's house, where Papyrus was waiting for them.

'Oh my goodness!' Papyrus cried when seeing them. 'Is she alright?'

'She's fine. She just needs some rest Papyrus.' Fiona lied.

'I-I'll take her to her room.' Papyrus' breathing went funny. He unlocked the door with Undyne's spear key and stepped inside. He took her from Fiona's arms and carried her into her room.

'Let's just sit down and have some tea. We can talk to her later.'

They all sat down at the table, feeling incredibly gloomy, hoping to God that Undyne will be alright.


	17. Dating Fight!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Undyne is awake! Papyrus is unusually nervous as he tries to explain to Undyne the tragedy that befell her... Meanwhile, the children wait nervously , fearing for their lives, which depend on Papyrus word that Undyne is really a nice person. Will Undyne's aggression overpower her sense of justice? Will Thomas ever forgive himself?

'Ah! Hello Undyne!' Papyrus called nervously as Undyne walked out of her bedroom door.

'What happened?' Undyne stumbled out in the clothes she was put to bed in, a black singlet and blue leggings. Her webbed feet splat on the linoleum as she walked. 'Why does my eye hurt so much? Why can I barely see?' Undyne rubbed her right eye with one hand and splayed her other out in front of her to help her navigate and avoid bumping into things.

'You got into a terrible accident, and I'm afraid you have lost the use of your left eye.' Papyrus said sadly.

'WHAT?!' She shrieked, making the children and Papyrus jump.

'I-it's q-quite a-alright Undyne!' Papyrus reassured. 'Alphys fixed you up, and gave you a little bit of determination! Your eye should heal in no time!'

'Determination?!' Undyne shrieked. 'How much did she gave me?'

'O-only a little.' Papyrus said. 'Frisk donated some.'

'Frisk?' Undyne's eyebrow raised. 'Who's Frisk?'

'Erm... I mean...' Papyrus started to say, but Frisk had already jumped up from the table and walked over to Undyne.

'You?!' She cried. 'Why would you wanna help me?! You're just a human! No sense of compassion whatsoever!' She turned to Papyrus. 'Why did you let them into my house?!'

'W-we had to lay you to rest.' Papyrus's breathing staggered. 'Besides, I was waiting outside for you to return home and for the children to come visit you!' He turned to Fiona. 'I didn't expect them to carry you and your armour all the way from Hotland back here.'

'Wait- what?' Undyne blinked. 'You carried me from Alphys' lab? Back to my house?'

'Well it was nothing really-' Fiona said modestly.

'We did what we had to!' Cissy cried. 'After all, it was-' She stopped and looked at Thomas for a split second. Undyne caught her eye.

'It was... What? Hmmm?' She asked Thomas, a menacing look appearing on her face.

'It was...' He sighed. 'My fault you got hurt.' He held up his gun. 'When you caught Percy and were about to kill him, I... shot you. In the eye. I'm so sorry.'

'YOU SHOT ME?!' Undyne screamed, and made a movement to jump towards him, but lost her footing and collapsed into the kitchen bench. 'See what you've done?! You've ruined me!'

'It's going to heal within the next few days, and besides, if it weren't for these children here-' Papyrus consoled Undyne.

'With the help of your brother.' Fiona added.

'You would have died out there.' Papyrus finished.

'If I'm going to thank anyone, it's Alphys. She did all the dirty work.' Undyne snarled. 'She's... she's good like that.' She sighed, and Papyrus helped her to a seat. 'I can't believe that all my years of hard work has left me invalid like this. With one eye, I have no sense of depth perception! I can't see where I'm aiming my spears!'

'I'm sorry Undyne.' Thomas said again. 'But I had to do something, or y-you would have killed my... um... my friend.' He sniffed, and looked at Percy, who smiled back at him.

'Well I do suppose you lot are different from most humans.' She sighed. 'Any other human would have left me to die, no remorse or guilt whatsoever. Did Sans make you take me to Alphys?'

'He recommended it.' Fiona explained. 'He lead us to your lab, and helped us carry you upstairs and he lay you on her operating table.'

'Which really was just a workbench, but desperate times call for desperate measures.' Cissy added.

'You mean... my brother... actually... did something?' Papyrus couldn't believe it.

'Yes. He helped save Undyne's life.' Cissy said to him.

'W-wow. I guess I really.. uh... don't give him enough credit...' He coughed.

'Papyrus, put the kettle on will ya?' Undyne asked, rubbing her head. 'I think we all need a cup of tea.' She turned to the children. 'What kinda tea do y'all want?'

Frisk pointed to a yellow box filled with teabags.

'This one? Coming right up!' Papyrus sang cheerily, trying to ease the mood. He filled kettle and put it on, then sat back down at the table.

'Look kids,' Undyne said as the water started boiling. 'I'm sorry I tried to kill you. You seem like good kids. Good friends.' She sighed. 'Lord knows what would have happened if poor Monster Kid... well...' She trailed off. 'What I'm saying is, Frisk, you saved that poor kid's life, and they stood up to me. Not many people can do that, and I'm proud of you both.' She looked at the others. 'I'm proud of all of you. You managed to defeat me!' She beamed. 'Not very ceremoniously I might add but still fair and square nontheless.'

'Tea's done!' Papyrus clapped his gloved hands. 'I'll pour everyone a cup.' He grabbed eight cups out of the cupboard and poured them all some tea.

'What about you Papyrus?' Aurora asked kindly.

'None for me thanks!' Papyrus responded. 'Oopsy doopsy! I just remembered! I have to get back to work! You all have fun!' And he jumped through the window, shattering it.

'He probably rehearsed that.' Undyne said nonchalantly for someone who just had their window smashed. 'I wonder if he knew he didn't need to do that...' She shrugged. 'Oh well.'

'This tea is very nice.' Fiona complimented as she sipped.

'Thank you. It's interesting that you choose that tea.' Undyne pointed it. 'That's golden flower tea, As-'

'Asgore's favourite kind.' Chara interrupted, shuddering. Their eyes were wide, and they could not take their eyes off Frisk's tea.

'How did you know that?' Undyne asked, suspiscious.

'Oh um...' The question seemed to snap them out of their trance. 'It's just umm.. instinct.' They lied. 'I heard that he really liked flowers, so naturally he would like the tea.' They smiled and bobbed up and down in the air nervously. Undyne narrowed her eye at the ghost. If Chara had a spine, a chill would be running down it.

'You know, you kids kinda remind me of him.' Undyne turned back to the Frisk. 'Especially you and the ghost.' She laughed. 'You're all total weenies! Sort of.' She stood up and leant against her piano, facing away from the children. 'You know, I was a pretty hotheaded kid. Once, to prove I was the strongest, I went up against Asgore and tried to beat him up!' She laughed and sighed. 'But I couldn't land a single blow on him! And what's worse, the whole time he refused to fight back! I was so humilated, but then he apologised and said something goofy: “Excuse me.” He said. “Do you want to know how to beat me?” I said yes, and then from on, he trained me, until finally I managed to knock him down!' She jumped up and sat on the piano. 'I felt bad, but he was beaming! I'd never seen someone so proud to get their butt kicked! He kept training me, and I soon became the captain of the Royal Guard! Now I'm the one who gets to train dorks to fight!' She frowned. 'Like.. uh... Papyrus.' She looked down at the floor, her legs swinging slightly. 'But... kids...' She hesitated. 'To be honest... uh.. I-I don't think I could ever let Papyrus into the royal guard.'

The children looked shocked.

'D-Don't tell them I said that! It's just...' She sighed. 'It's not that he's weak, he's actually pretty freakin' tough! It's just...' She hesitated again. 'He's too innocent and nice! Like he was supposed to capture y'all, but he ending up being friends with y'all instead!' She threw up her hands in mild frustration. 'I could never send him into battle! He'd get ripped into tiny, little, smiling... shreds.'

'I know how much he means to you.' Fiona got up from the table and walked over to Undyne and hugged her.

'D-Don't touch me.' Undyne shook her off.' Sorry, it's just, I'm not really used to people touching me. Much less humans. No offense.'

'It's quite alright love.' Fiona smiled. 'Papyrus means a lot to us too. He's a very sweet and caring person, despite his flaws.'

'Which are few and far in between.' Undyne smiled. 'He's an amazing friend, and I'd hate to lose him.'

'As do we, Undyne. As do we.' Fiona said.

'It's a part of why, I started teaching him to cook, you know?' She looked at Fiona, then the others. 'So he can do something else with his life.' She jumped down from the piano. 'Oh sorry, I was talking for so long, y'all are out of tea, aren't you?' She walked over to the sink. I'll get you some more.' She looked at the clock on the wall above the table and stopped suddenly. 'Wait a second...' She turned around slowly. 'Papyrus... His cooking lesson!'

'W-what about it?' Thomas asked nervously.

'He was supposed to have that right now! And he's not here to have it, then YOU'LL HAVE TO HAVE IT FOR HIM!' She leaped up suddenly onto the kitchen counter, and kicked the teaboxes to the floor. 'That's right, humans! Nothing us brought Papyrus and I closer than cooking! Which means if we all cook together, we'll be closer friends than ever! Fuhuhuhuh! It's the perfect revenge!'

'Oh jeez.' Thomas breathed.

'Today we're gonna make spaghetti! First we start with the sauce!' She jumped off the counter onto the floor She ripped off her eyepatch and stamped her foot. Suddenly, a bunch of vegetables and a lot of tomatoes seemed to tumble out of thin air and onto the counter. 'Envision these vegetables as your greatest enemy!' She shouted, throwing a tomato each to all of the children. 'Now, pound them to dust with your fists!'  
Cody took off his gloves and punched the tomato with full force. He smushed it in one go.

'Yeah! I'm into it! Undyne screamed. 'Don't pet the enemy!' She turned to Aurora to find her tapping the tomato gently. 'Now it's my turn!' She grabbed three tomatoes and uppercut them all.

'SPLAT!' The tomato juice went everywhere, splattering all over the walls and onto Undyne and the childrens' faces. 'Uhh... Let's just scrape this into a bowl for later.' Undyne said, wiping the juice off her face.

'What next?' Cody asked excitedly, jumping up and down.

'We add the pasta!' She stomped, and once again the pasta seemed to appear out of the sky and onto the stove. 'Stir the pasta in with all your might! Stir as hard as you can!'  
The children all took turns stirring the pot as hard as they could.

'Harder!' Undyne yelled. 'Harder! HARDER!'

'We're going as hard as we can, Undyne!' Percy panted, short of breath.

'Ugh!' Undyne cried. 'Let me do it!' She summoned a spear out of thin air and starting smashing the pot with it. The pot crumpled until it was almost of shape, but maintaining enough to withold the pasta.

'Now turn up the heat! Let the stovetop envision your very SOUL! Let your hopes and dreams turn into burning fire!'

Frisk grabbed the element controls and starting turning up the heat all the way.

'HOTTER!' Undyne yelled. Frisk kept turning. 'Okay maybe that's a little too-'

'WHOOSH!' The pot exploded and burst into flames. The flames quickly spread to the house, and within seconds the whole house was on fire.

'Oh man!' Undyne laughed. 'No wonder Papyrus sucks at cooking.'

'Well what's next?' Fiona asked happily.

'Scrapbooking? Friendship bracelets?' Cissy suggested.

'Oh forget it. I really screwed this up.' Undyne sighed. 'I'm sorry kids. I can't force y'all to like me. Some people just don't get along.'

'No no Undyne!' Fiona responded, kneeling beside her. 'That's not true! You're an amazing person!'

'No I'm not! Look, it doesn't really matter if we're not friends. Cause if we're not friends, it means I can destroy you without regret!'

'Oh God here we go again.' Thomas rolled his eyes.

'I've lost my dignity, my house is in flames, and I've even failed to befriend you.' Undyne summoned a spear into her hands began bobbing up and down. 'So! I don't care if you're my houseguests! One more final showdown! All out on both sides!' Her right eye gleamed. 'It's the only way I can regain my lost pride! Go ahead, make the first attack! Fuhuhuhu!'

'Undyne, we will not fight.' Thomas said.

'COME ON! WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF?!' Undyne swung her spear in her hands. 'I'M NOT GONNA FIGHT TIL YOU FIGHT! AND IF YOU DON'T FIGHT, WE WILL ALL BURN DOWN IN FLAMES!' She screamed.  
Percy sighed and went up to Undyne, and prentending to swing with all his might, poked her.

'What.' Undyne froze. 'Even attacking at full force, you can't muster any intent to hurt me can you? Well...' Undyne stood up and dropped her spear. 'I.. uh... don't want to fight y'all either. At first I hated your stupid saccharine schtick, but the way you hit me just know, it reminded me of someone I used to train with.' She smiled down at Percy. 'Now I know y'all aren't just some wimpy losers, you're all wimpy losers with big hearts!' She grinned. 'Just like him.' A piece of timber near her bedroom door fell onto the ground, startling everyone. 'Well that was fun, wasn't it!' Undyne smiled. 'Let's get the hell out of this flaming house!' Undyne picked up Aurora and Frisk and ran outside, the others following. 'We'll have to do this again sometime.' Undyne said as they all got out. 'But some-' She was interrupted by the sound of the house collapsing to the ground, and a massive fireball surging towards the children.' Get down!' Undyne screamed and shielded all the children, letting the fireball lick at and over her back, singeing her body. She stood up as the flames eased. 'Anyway as I was saying, we'll have to meet up, but somewhere else I guess.' She turned around and sighed as her home was reduced to ashes. 'In the meantime, I guess I'll go hang with Papyrus. If you need anything, just give Papy a rang okay? We'll be in the same area, so I can talk too!' She ran down the path away from the children. 'See you, punks!' She waved back.

'Well. What now?' Cody asked.

'I guess we return to Alphys.' His sister answered, shrugging.

'Yes good idea.' Fiona commended, gathering Aurora and Frisk. 'She said she needed to explain some things, and I do believe to get to Asgore we need to go through Hotland.'

At the mention of Asgore's name, Chara shuddered, but nobody noticed. The children got off at Hotland's dock and waved goodbye to the riverperson, thanking them again. The hum of the large red building seemed to grow louder. They walked into Alphys' lab again, to discover her at her computer. She seemed to be waiting for them.

'Oh hi h-humans!' Alphys waved. 'I totally w-w-wasn't s-sitting h-here w-waiting for y-you or... uh... anything!' She laughed nervously. 'H-how's U-Undyne?'

'She's good.' Fiona reassured her. 'It's if she never got shot.'

'She even tore off her eyepatch, and a new eye seemed to be growing back.' Cissy added.

'Oh t-that's j-just t-the e-effect o-of t-the.. umm... you know...' Alphys trailed off.

'Yes we know.' Fiona nodded. 'Now, you said you had some things to tell us about?'

'O-oh u-u-um yes. F-Firstly, I w-want y-you t-to know I want to help you as much as p-possible! I w-will... uh... g-guide you through Hotland no problem!'

'That sounds wonderful!'

'But um... s-secondly... t-there is.... um... one t-tiny issue...'

'Oh God what now?' Thomas cried, clearly sick of all this confrontation.

'Y-You s-see, a l-long time ago, I made an uh... robot... He was just an entertainment robot.'

'A what?' Fiona asked.

'Y-you know... like a robotic TV star or something. Ehehe...' Alphys laughed nervously.

'Oh thank God.' Thomas breathed a sigh of relief.

'But um... Originally... when I uh.. built him, I-I also p-programmed him with... uh... o-other f-f-features.'

'Like what?'

'Like... um... anti-human c-combat features?'

'Oh great. Just great.' Percy muttered to himself.

'B-BUT! When I saw y-you c-coming, I decided... umm... that I immiedately had to r-remove those features!'

'Oh! Then there's no problem then?'

'Well... I may have made a teensy weensy mistake when doing so.' She looked down at the ground and twirled her ankle neverously.

'I m-may have c-c-caused him to... uh... malfunction, and now he's an unstoppable killing machine with a thirst for human blood?' She laughed nervously again.

'Wonderful!' Thomas cried sarcastically. 'Just freakin' wonderful!' He threw his hands up in the air, defeated.

'But but but h-hopefully we won't run into him!'

As if on cue, a noise began to hammer in the distance.

'D-Did you hear something?' Alphys asked.

The noise got louder.

'Clang!'

'Oh God.' Cissy whispered.

'Clang! Clang! Clang!'

'Oh no.'


	18. Metal Crusher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh Oh! The deadly human eradication robot has come to terrorise the poor children! Alphys seems to have no control over her eccentric creation as it puts the humans in a... game show? Ready? IIIIIIIIIIIT'SSSSS SHOWTIME!

'OOOHH YES!' A metallic voice rang as a robot burst through the wall to their left. Alphys put her head into her claws. 'Welcome beauties and gentlebeauties... To today's Quiz Show!'

Suddenly, a disco ball appeared on the ceiling and a sign, labelled 'Mettaton's Quiz Show' came down into view. Game Show music started playing and the robot came into view.

'Welcome everyone! I'm Mettaton, and welcome to the show!' The robot was built like your typical everyday robot. It had a rectangular body with no face, just a display with lights flashing yellow and red. He had two metal arms, which could bend and extend over great distances in many directions. In his left hand he held a microphone, which was useless because he didn't have a mouth. His right hand was sticking up in the air dramatically. Underneath his body, instead of legs, he bore one long pole with a wheel on the end for mobility. His voice was slightly metallic, but still deep and charming, sounding similar to that of a sexy YouTuber who until recently had red hair and a beard.

'Alphys... built that?' Percy whispered to Thomas.

'I know right?' He responded.

'Today we have a very special episode, for tonight we have seven humans on the show!' Mettaton gestured to the cameras to pan to the humans. 'And who could forget our lovely ghost guest too!' Mettaton clapped as Chara floated nervously into the picture. 'Welcome to Hotland, darlings! And welcome to the show!'

'We're very happy to be here.' Fiona lied, playing up for the cameras.

'Excellent! Glad to hear it!' Mettaton clapped his white-gloved hands, very pleased with Fiona. 'Now, I'm sure you know the rules for this quiz...'

'We don't, actually...' Cissy replied.

'Well then! I shall explain! The rules are simple! Answer them all correctly...' Mettaton paused for effect. 'Or you die!'

Alphys' monitor flashed with 4 answers, A, B, C and D. The music got suddenly more intense. Alphys shuffled next to Mettaton, her head still in her claws. She sighed and dropped her hands by her side.

'First question!' Mettaton pulled out a set of cards from behind his back and read the first one. 'What is the prize for answering correctly?'

The answers flashed up on screen. A: 'A New Car', B: 'Money', C: 'Freedom' and D: 'More questions.'

'Uhh...' The children thought for a moment. Alphys seemed to be trying to get their attention. A clock was counting down from 30.

'Look at Alphys! Aurora whispered.  
They all turned to see Alphys making a 'D' shape with her claws.

'Uh...' Fiona pretended to think for a moment. 'D?'

'Correct! My what a terrific answer!'

The children all breathed a sigh of relief, except Chara who just thanked Alphys with a thumbs up. Mettaton paid no notice.

'Enough about y'all, let's talk about me!' Mettaton said.

'What are robots made of?' The question flashed on the monitor. A: 'Hopes and Dreams', B: 'Metal and Magic', C: Snips and Snails', D: 'Hard Work and Determination.'  
Alphys made a 'B' with her claws.

'B!' Cody cried.

'Correct! Here's another easy one!'

'What is the name of this monster?' The question flashed. Below was a picture of a Froggit, cut in half. A: 'Froggit', B: 'Whimsun', C: Moldsmal', D: 'Mettaton'.

'A!' Aurora giggled confidently.

'Wait no it's a trap-' Chara started to say, but it was too late.

'Oh my! So very, very wrong!' Mettaton fired a laser at all the children, sending them all sprawling backwards onto the floor. They all cried out in pain. 'Screaming is against the rules, darlings!' Mettaton giggled. He seemed to be enjoying himself. On the monitor, the picture zoomed out, revealing a picture of Mettaton wearing a T-Shirt with a picture with a Froggit on it. Alphys, on the other hand, was jumping up and down in frustration.

'In the TV Show, Mew Mew Kissy Cutie, what happens in the final episode of the second season?'

'Ooh ooh! I know this one!' Alphys jumped up down excitedly with one hand in the air. 'I-it's my favourite show! And this one is one of my favourite episodes!' She started talking really fast. 'She goes to the store to buy ice-cream for all her friends! But she buys snail-flavour and she's the only one who wants it! It's actually a very good message about friendship... and..' She stopped fangirling and trailed off, realising that Mettaton was looking right at her, one hand on his 'hip'.

'Alphys, Alphys, Alphys. You weren't helping our contestants were you?' Mettaton accused. Everyone shook their heads. 'Ooh! You should have told me! I'll ask them a question they'll be sure to know the answer to!'

'Mettaton please-'

'Who does Alphys have a crush on?' The question flased up on the screen, with answers: A: 'Undyne', B: 'Asgore', C: 'One of the humans', D: 'The Unknown'.  
The children all collapsed into fits of giggles.

'It's totally Undyne.' They all agreed. 'A!' They all said together, laughing.

'Correct!' Mettaton smirked, or at least would have, had he had a mouth. 'She scrawls her name in the margin of her notes, she names programming variables after her. She even writes stories of them together, sharing a domestic life.'

'Oooh! Fanfiction! Can I read it sometime?' Percy asked Alphys.

'Uh... n-no...' Alphys stammered, still blushing.

'Well! With the doctor helping you, this show has no dramatic tension!' Mettaton lamented. 'But! But!! BUT!!! Tune in next episode for more drama... romance...' He paused and looked at Percy and Thomas, who blushed and turned away from each other. 'More bloodshed! Have a nice pilot! Goodbye!' And with that, he retracted his arms and leg into his body, turned into a rocket ship and flew off.

'Well that was certaintly something.' Alphys said, feigning calmness. 'Th-that last q-question...' She murmured. 'He w-wasn't s-supposed to a-asked that one...'

'We really should get going...' Fiona, making for the far door on the other side of the lab.

'We still have a big journey ahead of us.'

'W-wait!' Alphys ran over. 'Let me g-give you my phone number! T-then I c-could umm...' She stopped suddenly. 'Where did you get that phone?!' She shrieked, snatching the phone off Frisk. 'It's ANCIENT! It doesn't even have texting! Hold on- wait here for a minute.' She ran off upstairs, and came back 5 minutes later, with the same phone, but brande-spankingly new. It almost seemed to gleam from the shine. 'S-see? I upgraded it for you! It's got texting, a keychain, I even signed you up for the Underground's Number One Social Networking Webiste! Ehehe... Heh... Hehh...' She turned bright red, as if she were embarrased by what she'd just done.

'I'm g-going to the bathroom.' She ran off into the bathroom and shut the door. Her yellow feet tapped nervously inside.

'Okay then...' Percy stared at the door. 'Let's go I guess...'

The children all regrouped, and then walked out the lab door and into Hotland. Chara stood in the back, not realising that their feet were starting to reform.


	19. Another Medium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From harsh cold, to marshy swamp, to scorching heat. How will the humans survive this treacherous volcanic terrain? And how can Alphys be able to access the Hotland's puzzle mainframe? Why do the humans still have to do the puzzles?

The heat was overwhelming. All around the children the foul stench of smoke and steam reeked from various pipes sticking out of the earth. The humming noise droned in their ears, leaving them ringing. Frisk received several 'Pings!' on their phone, indicating that Alphys had updated her status on UnderNet.

'Just realised I didn't watch Undyne fight the human!' One read.

'Well I know she's unbeatable so I'll ask her about it later.'

'For now I gotta call up the human and guide them =^_^= so nervous!!!'

'What's her problem?' Thomas asked, reading the messages over Frisk's shoulder. 'She just talked to us a few minutes ago.'

'Anxiety's a btich.' Chara replied, shrugging.  
The children walked along sever conveyer belts winding in different directions, but still going forward. The sudden lurch of all their bodies made them all sick, and Cody threw up.

'Urrrghhhh....' He moaned, clutching his stomach.

The hot, humid air was getting in everyone's hair, and Percy, Fiona and Frisk, who all had long hair, could feel their hair expanding outwards, ruining all their respective styles. Cissy frowned and huffed as her black curly hair, which was tied in a bun, started poking out in all directions. Only Chara, being a ghost, was unaffected, and grinned evilly at the suffering of the others. They came to an area consisting of different hoodoos with flat tops sticking out of the hot, flowing magma. Arrows near the edges of the spires flashed on the tops of vents, which were pushing steam through the grates.

'Well now what do we do?' Cody asked.

'It's a dead end.' Cissy added, sighing.

'WHOOSH!'

The children all turned to find Frisk flying through the air to the next platform. They giggled, and pointed to the flashing arrows on the grates.

'Let me call Papyrus about this...' Fiona said, now glad she took it from Frisk. 'I'm not sure about these vents.'

'Ring...'

'Hello humans!' Papyrus' voice rang.

'Hey punks! Where are you? Must be hot!' Undyne's voice called next to him.

'We need your help! We're at these platforms with vents on them, and we're unsure how to get across.' Fiona cried.

'Why, just step on the vents, of course!' Papyrus responded. 'They'll send you flying to the next arrrrea!' His r's rolled, and he seemed to shouting through the receiver.

'Yeah! They don't hurt, you'll be okay!' Undyne laughed. 'They're perfect if you're not wearing a dress! Glad to hear you're okay! See you, punks!'

'Click...' She hung up the phone.  
'Great...' Fiona sighed, looking down at her grass skirt. 'How are we gonna do this, Cissy?' She asked Cissy, standing next to her.

'Uuuhhh...' Mumbled Cissy, assessing the situation. 'Ask the others to close their eyes? And try keep our skirts down as much as possible?' She replied, fidgeting with her tutu self-consciously.

'Well you know it's not going to make a difference for me!' Thomas laughed, jogging past them and jumping onto the vent.

'YAHOO!' He screamed as he was launched to the other side. With one hand on his hat, he stumbled over next to Frisk and laughed.' It's fine guys! Come on over!'

'I think I'll stick to floating thanks.' Chara frowned, flying past the others.

Fiona slapped her face. 'That was so gay.' She laughed at Thomas' remark, shaking her head.

'Speak of the devil.' Cissy whispered as Percy walked past. The two girls giggled, causing Percy to turn and raise an eyebrow at them.

'Make way, bozo!' Cody, whose face was now full of colour, shoved past Percy and mimicked Thomas' jump onto the vent.

'Rude.' Percy mumbled. He slowly walked onto the vent and was thrown over. 'Wee...' He muttered, clearly tired and uninterested.

'Can we go together Fifi?' Aurora asked. 'I'm too scared.'

'Sure!' Fiona smiled and winked at her. 'It'll be fun! After you, Cissy.'

Cissy smiled nervously, but despite herself, winked at Fiona. 'Turn around everyone!' She cried at the others. They all sighed but turned around anyway. She ran up and leapt onto the vent, which sent her flying through the air and onto the other side. 'WOOHOO!' She cheered, pulling her tutu down as she sailed through the air. 'Oof!' She landed gracefully on the other side, out of breath. 'That...' She panted. 'Was fun.'

'Well I guess it's us now.' Fiona whispered down to Aurora. 'Ready?'

'Ready!' Aurora giggled.

'Let's go!' They ran onto the vent, and together shot over to the other side, each had one hand holding onto their dress/skirt and the other onto each other. 'Well that was certainly something.' Fiona panted, short of breath. 'Let's... Continue... on.'

The children all repeated the same thing until they were on the other side.

'OMG I'M JUST GOING TO DO IT!!!' A status update from Alphys read. 'I'M JUST GOING TO CALL!!!'

As if on cue, the phone rang in Fiona's hand.

'Ring...'

'Hello?' Fiona answered.

'Click...?'

'What was that?' Cissy asked.

'I don't know. Whoever rang must have hung up before I answered it.' Fiona shrugged.

The children came to an area marked by lasers of different colours. Light blue lasers, which were moving up and down the path in patrol-like patterns, and orange ones, which were dotted along the path but remained stationary.

'Ring...' The phone went again.

'Uhh... hi! So the blue lasers-' Alphys cut herself off. 'I mean, uh, hi! Alphys h-here! So t-the blue l-lasers w-won't h-hurt you if you d-don't move, b-but t-the orange ones... will... uh... I mean... um... M-move through t-those o-ones! Y-yeah! Uh... G-goodbye!'

'Click...'

'Okay then...' Fiona stared at the phone in confusion.

'Okay so don't move through blue, but move through orange. Got it.' Cissy recalled.

'Oh yeah!' Sounds like something I can do!' Cody pulsed up and down on the spot, preparing for a challenge. He sprinted through all the orange ones and stayed dead still as the blue lasers moved through him. It was almost easy. 'Ah!' He yelped as a blue laser stinged him as he moved slightly while a blue laser moved through him. 'I g-got this!' He jumped through the last orange laser and rolled over. 'Huff... puff...' He stood up, and flicked the switch on the pole next to him. The lasers were deactivated.

'Good job Cody!' Fiona cheered, and ran with the others across the bridge. The turned and found themselves near a vent, in which the direction of the steam's travel was pushed in changing directions: Forward, back, left, and right.

'Ring...'

'H-hi! Alphys here! The... um... d-door w-won't o-open unless you... uh... s-solve the... um... puzzles on the l-left a-and r-right! I-I t-think y-you should go to the um... right f-first! Ehehe...'

'Click...'

'I got this.' Percy pulled out his notebook and leapt towards the right. He kept walking until he approached a door with an arrow above it. He went in and found a giant board encased behind a panel of glass. In front of the screen he found a joystick. It was like an arcade game. He looked at the note beside it, which read: 'Shoot the opposing ship. Move the boxes to complete your mission. You have two shots.'

'Oh okay.' He mumbled. 'Hmm... Let's see...' He thought for a moment, and started moving the joystick. On the screen, the boxes moved in conjunction with the joystick. It was a 3x3 board with 4 white boxes fixed in place in the corners, and two black boxes which shifted with the joystick. He moved the joystick down, and the boxes moved down. He then moved towards the right, and the boxes moved towards the right. Now there was only one box in between the opposing ship and Percy's supposed ship. He pressed the button on the joystick. A bullet fired from his ship and struck the box, destroying it, leaving a gap between the two ships. He fired again, and the opposing ship was destroyed. A victory sound went off and words flashed up on the screen.

'Congratulations! You solved the puzzle!'

'Whoop-dee-doo.' He muttered sarcastically. 'That was easy.' He carried on, and without even acknowledging the others, who were congratulating him and pointing at the door (whose right side's light had switched from red to green), moved onto the left side. The others followed him.

'How do we get past that blue laser?' Fiona pointed at the stationary blue laser that was blocking the way. 'Hold on I'll ring Alphys.'

'Ring...'

'H-hold on... that blue laser s-seems t-totally i-impassable, right? W-well... a-as the R-Royal S-Scientist, I-I-I have a few... uh... t-tricks u-up my sleeve! I'll uh... hack into the Hotland l-laser database and s-swtich it off!'

'Click...' She hung up the phone, and then two seconds later the laser was shut off.

'If she can do that, why doesn't she just let us through the door?' Percy asked, skeptical of Alphys.

'Maybe she is limited in her power.' Thomas shrugged. 'I wouldn't lose sleep over her, Perc. I trust her. She has nothing to hide.'

'Okay then... I trust your judgment, so if you trust her, then I'll trust her.' Percy smiled.

'Thanks man.' Thomas winked and tried not to blush. 'Now go solve that puzzle!'

Percy turned and walked into the next puzzle room. This one was much trickier. The square was now at least 5x5 and had more white and black squares. Percy kept moving the boxes and up and down and side to side. He sat and wrote down in his notebook. He kept thinking, until he finally got it. He moved the boxes, left, down, right, up, left, left, down, and then-

'Got it!' He cried as he shot his second bullet into the ship.

'Congratulations! You've completed the puzzle!'

'You bet I did!' Percy winked at the inanimate puzzle and walked out, beaming.

'Well done Percy my man!' Thomas pulled Percy in for a hug.

The children all regrouped at the large double doors, whose lights shone green. At their approach, the double doors opened, with a loud 'CLUNK!' They all walked through and jumped onto consecutive vents leading to a platform with blue and yellow linoleum tiles as opposed to the orange rocky path they had been walking on before.

'The vents don't go back.' Chara realised. 'I guess there's no going back.'

'Let's just keep moving then.'

The children all walked into the room, which was completely shrouded by darkness, like an unlit stage set.

'Hold on I'll ring Alphys.' Fiona took out the phone and dialed her number.

'Ring...'

'H-hi! A-Alphys here! W-what's wrong? Y-you're stuck in a... um... d-dark r-room? H-hold on.' She typed away at her keyboard as she spoke. 'Let me h-hack into the... uh... l-light s-system in the a-area a-and brighten it up!'

'Click!' The lights came on, revealing the set of a cooking show.

'Oh no.'


	20. Cooking With A Killer Robot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen beauties!

'OOOHHH YES!' A scarily familiar voice called. Mettaton stood behind a kitchen counter, wearing a chef's hat and a white apron. 'Preheat your ovens beauties and gentlebeauties! For today we have a very special episode! We are going to bake...' He paused for dramatic tension. 'A cake!' A crew member off the side pressed a button and cued fake audience cheering and applause. 'I have here with me my wonderful assistants on stage!' He turned his head slightly, and had he had eyes, would have sidelong-glanced at the children. 'Come here!' He whispered harshly, and the children ran over. Confetti sprung from the ceiling over the children and the fake applause and cheer was cued again.

'This is demeaning.' Percy huffed.

'We need sugar, milk, and eggs!' Mettaton turned to the children. 'They're over there on the back counter, won't you get them darlings?'

The children all sighed heavily. Dragging their hands and ankles along the ground, they slowly and reluctantly gathered the ingredients and set them on the table.

'Wonderful!' Mettaton clapped his hands, sending flour into all the childrens' faces. Percy coughed, and grabbed onto Thomas so he wouldn't fall over.

'Wait a magnificent moment!' Mettaton slapped his hand against the top of his screen, as if it were his forehead. 'How could I forget?'

The children all looked at each other nervously. 'F-forget what?' Aurora asked shakily.

Mettaton pulled open a drawer, and pulled out a chainsaw. 'Seven human SOULs!' He shrieked and wheeled slowly over to Frisk, who shrank back slightly.

'Ring...' Mettaton's cellphone, which hung on his left side near where his 'pocket' would be. He answered it.

'Hello?' He said in an annoyed tone. 'I'm kind of in the middle of something here.'

'W-wait!' Alphys voice shrieked through the phone. The children all sighed in relief. 'Couldn't y-you... uh... m-make a... um.... s-substitution in the r-recipe?' She asked.

'A substitution? You mean use a non-human-SOUL ingredient? Why?'

'Y-yeah! W-what if someone's... uh... v-vegan?'

'Vegan?' Mettaton paused to think. The children started to sweat nervously. Alphys seemed to be whispering frantically to herself. 'That's a wonderful idea!' Mettaton threw the chainsaw behind him, which crashed onto the kitchen floor. 'I can use my vegan human-SOUL flavour substitute! A can of which...' He turned and pointed to a bench just barely visible from the camera's view. 'Is right over there! Go get it, darlings!'

The children all raced over towards it, but as Cody reached to grab it, the bench shot up into the air, going through the roof of the set. Below formed a ladder made up of little cupboards which could be climbed up. Mettaton wheeled over.

'Oh! And you better hurry! Our show runs on a strict schedule! If you don't get the can in one minute, we'll just have to go back to our original plan. So better start climbing beautiful!' He wheeled off, laughing maniacally.

'Ring...' Fiona's phone rang. It was Alphys.

'O-oh n-no! T-there's n-n-not enough t-time t-to climb up!' She shrieked, then calmed down. 'L-luckily, I h-have i-installed a f-few t-things o-on y-your p-phone! H-hand it to C-Cody.' Fiona handed the phone to Cody, confused as to how a cellphone could help them. 'O-okay! S-see t-the b-button t-that s-says JETPACK?'

'Uh... yeah?' Cody replied, confused.

'P-press it, and watch this!'

'Click....' She hung up.

'Okay then... Here goes... nothing?' Cody pressed the button. Suddenly the phone flew up into the air, and formed a jetpack. The jetpack came down and rested on his back, straps wrapping around him. 'Cool!' He cried.

'Now, get up there!' Cissy cried, pressing the button to start the jets.

Mettaton's yellow dials flashed red. He activated his own rockets and started chasing him. He overtook him, throwing eggs, big balls of sugar and bits of milk and flour at him to slow him down. They hit his face.

'Ow! Quit it you dumb robot jerk!' Cody cried at Mettaton.

'Such language!' Mettaton tutted.

Cody frowned, and started dodging to avoid the mess. 'I'm getting the hang of this.' He thought.

'10 seconds!' Mettaton called. They were almost at the top.

Cody tugged at a lever on his jetpack, and the jets fired even faster. He quickly overtook Mettaton and made it to the top with 1 second to spare.

'Oh! It seems you have bested me!' Mettaton mock-cried. 'But not without the help of the great Dr. Alphys!' He saw Cody reaching for the can. 'Have you never seen a cooking show before? I've already baked the cake ahead of time! So forget it.'

'Oh....' Cody moaned sadly. He flew back down towards the ground, and pressed the JETPACK button to deactivate it. The jetpack quickly turned back into a cellphone.

'Ring...' The phone went immediately.

'Looks like we... did it?' Alphys said, clearly confused. 'Yeah! Y-you k-kids don't have to worry about him. I'll protect you from that big, dumb robot!'

'Thanks Alphys, we really appreciate it.' Fiona said.

Muffled screams and giggles came from the other end of the phone. 'Thank you!' She cried happily. 'I'm so glad I get to actually help people!' She breathed in and out and calmed herself down. 'Okay. Just keep going this way.'

The children all walked forward out of the set.

'S-see that b-building i-in the distance?' Alphys asked. She was clearly still monitoring them. 'T-that's the CORE. A-an e-elevator a-at the t-top of the CORE leads s-straight to the castle! A-and f-from t-there you can...' She trailed off. 'G-go home.' She finished sadly.

'Click....' She hung up. The children all looked at each other guiltily.

They approached an elevator which read,

'R1'. The lights above it flashed red.

'An elevator?' Cissy asked. 'I thought the Royal Guards said they were blocking off the elevators...'

'Well clearly not this one. Let's go up.' Fiona replied, leading the children into the elevator.

'The elevator says we only have access to floors L1 and R2.' Percy read. 'There are others, but we're denied access?'

'Doesn't Alphys have control over the elevators?' Thomas asked, reading Percy's skepticism.

'Limited control. And besides, perhaps they're down for mantinence or something.' Fiona suggested.

'Yeah. We have no reason to distrust Alphys. She's our friend and she wants to help us.' Cissy added.

'Okay, if you girls say so.' Thomas shrugged.

'Let's go the R2. I have a feeling L1 will just take us back to Alphys' lab.'

Percy nodded, and pressed the button. Within seconds, the elevator arrived at R2. The children stepped out, and found a conveyer belt with three switches lined up along it.

'More puzzles?' Percy sighed. 'Come on.'

'Ring...' As if on cue, Alphys rang.

'O-okay! T-this puzzle is kinda t-timing based.' Alphys explained. 'To get past that... uh.... f-forcefield, y-you need to press all three switches within three seconds! I-i'll try to help you with the rhythm!'

'Okay then.' Fiona stepped out onto the conveyer belt. 'One!' She cried as she pressed the first switch. 'Two!' She cried as she pressed the second one.

'Now press the third one!' Alphys cried suddenly, throwing Fiona off and missing the switch. 'O-oh... umm.... w-whoops... I-I'm s-sorry... oh! L-look's l-like you... uh.. only needed to press... two of them!'

The forcefield disappeared. The children all scratched their heads.

'Gotta go! Bye!'

'Click...'

'Now do you believe us?' Percy cried, standing next to Thomas. 'She has control over all the puzzles, but she's still making us do them! Not to mention she conviently made Mettaton “malfunction”. What on Ebott is she doing?'

'I don't know, but it can't be bad. I still trust her.' Cissy shrugged.

'She's using us.' Thomas fumed.

'For what?' Fiona replied. 'Leave her be. Let's keep going.'

The children kept walking, and Frisk started to giggle as they approached...

'Another mouse hole? And a... microwave?' Thomas asked, confused.

'It's a computerised laser safe.' Percy pointed at it. 'The lasers have melted the cheese.'

'Let me guess... It's stuck to the table.' Thomas said, shaking his head.

'Those poor mice...' Aurora said sadly.

'Beware, Royal Guards patrol this area. Stay out of trouble, unless you're a human, then prepare yourselves!' Cody read a warning sign which stood next to the mouse hole.  
'Oh great. Look's like we're gonna run into that Dragon and Rabbit again.'

They kept walking, and sure enough...

'Hey! You lot!' The rabbit called out to the children, who stopped suddenly.

'We've, like, received an anonymous tip about, like, some humans in the area.' The rabbit explained. He spoke with a rough, deep accent, and he sounded like he was in his early 20's. 'So, if you, like, totally come with us, we'll totally, like, bring you somewhere safe dudes.'

The children all looked at each other. The two Royal Guards turned and walked. The dragon started whispering to the rabbit.

'Their SOULs?' The rabbit asked. 'Like, what about them?' He turned around, and saw all the glowing SOULs of the children, all in their different colours. 'Bummer. This is, like, MEGA embarrasing. We totally have to, like, kill you and stuff.'

The guards both unsheathed their swords and stood guard. The children all backed up slightly. The guards edged towards them.

'Like, team attack!' The rabbit cried.

'… Yeah.' The dragon said, his voice even deeper and huskier than the rabbit. 'Oh crap.'

'What is it dude?' The rabbit suddenly stopped, concerned for his partner.

'My armour... it's... too... hot... I c-can't... take it!' The dragon tore off his chestplate, revealing a very muscular set of scales on his chest. The children's eyes all widened and the rabbit started to sweat.

'Oh... wow... o-okay d-dude.' The rabbit tried to keep his composure and turned back to the children. 'T-team attack!'

'What?' The dragon muttered.

Fiona smirked. She winked at Cissy.

'You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?' Fiona asked Cissy.

'You bet I am.' Cissy smiled, looking subtly at Percy and Thomas.

'You have to be honest with your feelings Rabbit!' Cissy shouted at the royal guard.

'W-what? What are you talking about?' The rabbit stammered. He started swinging his sword violently at the children. 'S-shut up!'

'It's okay! We all support you!' Fiona cried.

'What are they doing?' Percy whispered to Thomas.

'They're trying to get him to confess.' Thomas' jaw dropped, suddenly realising.

The royal guard stopped suddenly and lowered his sword. He turned to the dragon.

'Um... d-dude?'

'Yeah, bro?'

'I... I like... like like you bro!' The rabbit turned to him. 'I like doing team attacks with you bro! I like standing guard with you, bouncing and waving our weapons in sync!' He moved closer. 'I, like, want this to totally last forever, bro.'

'…'

'I-I m-mean!' The rabbit stood back, stammering. 'Psyche! G-gotcha bro! Ha ha.' He looked sad.

'Bro?'

'Yeah, bro?'

'Do you... want to... get some... ice cream... after this?' The dragon asked, smiling.

'Yeah! Sure bro! Ha ha!'

Fiona and Cissy both cheered. The royal guards looked at each other happily.

'Thanks kids.' The dragon said.

'You're like, totally free.' The rabbit added.

'Bye!'

'See?' Fiona looked at Thomas. 'It's that easy!' She winked at him. Thomas blushed.

'Yeah.. totally easy.' He sighed. He shook himself. 'Let's just keep going.'

They all continued walking, until they approached another lift.

'L2' Fiona read. 'Huh. Maybe we can access other floors now?'

'Yes we can!' Percy cried, reading the accessible floors. 'L1, L2, R1, R2, and L3'

'Well L3 it is then.'

The doors opened at L3, at an area marked purpley-red stone, as opposed to the orangey-brown stone from before.

'Oh thank God it's not as hot as before.' Cissy breathed a sigh of relief.

'I was just about dying.' Percy nodded.

'Who's this?' Aurora pointed at a giant spider lady behind a counter.

'Spider bake sale!' Chara read. 'All proceeds go to real spiders.'

'Hello deariess!' The lady hissed kindly. 'My name iss Muffet. Would you like to buy something? Prices are on the flyers on the websss'

'9999 G?' Cissy cried. 'You must be joking!'

'We have to make a living sssomehow.' She smiled, and licked her lips creepily. Cissy shuddered.

'I'm really sorry, but we don't have that kind of money.' Fiona apologised. 'Good luck though!' She turned to the other children.

'Come on, let's get out of here.' She whispered hurriedly, ushering them away.

'More puzzles. Joy.' Percy sighed. 'I'll meet you on the other side in five minutes.'

'I-I'll join you.' Thomas said hurriedly and followed him.

'Let's go North first.'

Near the door to the puzzle, two odd creatures with diamond shaped heads stood, as if waiting for them.

'My fav Mettaton Moment TM is when everything looks the baddest, he strikes a pose!' The purple one said.

'Well my fav Mettaton Moment TM is when he beats up the heal-turning villains!' The green one replied.

'Sure thing, weirdos...' Percy walked past them.

Minutes later, Percy and Thomas returned. Percy's hair was slightly singed and Thomas had a hole in his jacket.

'What on Ebott happened?' Fiona cried.

'Lasers.' Thomas replied.

'On conveyer belts.' Percy added

'But we're fine. Don't worry.'

'O-okay then...' Fiona looked worried.

They walked through the massive doors and came upon a purple building covered with cobwebs. 'Spider Entrance.' The sign above the door read.

'I don't like spiders.' Aurora hugged Fiona, scared.

'It'll be okay, hun.' Fiona gulped, unsure herself.

They all walked in, and heard, but couldn't see, hundreds upon hundreds of spiders, all hissing. They seemed to be... giggling?

'Did you hear what sssshe jussst sssaid?' One spider hissed to its friend as it crawled by the children.

'Ssshe ssssaid a group of humansss will walk through.' The other hissed back.

'I heard they don't like sssspiders.' Another giggled.

'I heard they like to ssstomp on them.' Another replied.

'That's not true!' Aurora retorted, shivering away as a spider crawled close and laughed at her.

'I heard they like to tear their legsss off.' The spider looked at Aurora with all eight of its eyes.

'I heard...'

The children turned. They knew that voice.

'I'm stuck!' Percy cried.

They all looked down, and discovered that they had gotten themselves all stuck in a giant web. They could move their arms, but not their legs.

'That a ssscertain sssomeone hatesss sssspidersss.' Muffet appeared from the shadows. 'Ahhuhuhu!' She giggled. 'You think your tastesss are too refined for our pastriess do you, deariesss?' She clapped two of her six hands. 'Well I think your tassste.... Ahuhuhu! Isss exactly what thisss next batch needsss!'


	21. Spider Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh! Little Miss Muffet has come for the children's SOULS! Her little bit needs a meal, and she's desperate for the cash! How are the children going to get out of this sticky situation? Meanwhile, Mettaton is exploring a whole new fashion trend....

'Oh Christ, here we go again.' Thomas muttered, trying to tear the spider webs off his legs.

'Ahuhuhu!' Muffet giggled at the sight of the struggling children. 'Why so blue deariesss?' She tipped the teapot towards the children, pouring a strange purple liquid all over them. They were drenched, and their SOULs started to change colour again.

'P-purple?!' Cody cried. 'I hate purple!'  
'Oh joy. A different colour.' Percy said sarcastically, whose SOUL was already purple.

'I c-can help!' Chara cried. As a ghost, their legs were not bound into the webs. They began tearing at the webs, only to discover that their hands phased right through. 'Blast this incorpoeral bloody vessel!'

'I-it'll be okay everyone!' Fiona cried, trying to calm the situation. 'We j-just have t-to think of a way out of here!'

'Ahuhuh! Let you go?' Muffet laughed at the children, her eight large eyes all blinking at different times. 'Don't be ssssilly! Go my children!' She sent waves of spiders at the children, who swatted them off easily. Muffet frowned. 'That'sss no way to treat my children! Well, my pet, it'sss time for breakfassst, isssn't it? Let'sss ssshow thessse humansss what we do with violent youthsss!'

A gigantic spider jumped and snapped at their legs trapped within the web. It was if it was stuck in a pit, trying to jump out.

'Ahuhuhu!' Muffet clapped her hands. 'Thisss isss fun! With your SOULssss, we'll finally be able to have the money to free our trapped comradesss from the Ruinsss!'

'Wait!' Chara cried, suddenly remembering something. 'We bought something! From the spider bake sale in the Ruins!'

'The Ruins?' Muffet cried. 'I don't believe you! No-one hassss ever left the Ruinsss!' Muffet pointed three of her arms at Chara. 'Liar!' She accused. 'My pet, feasst on thessse children! Maybe it will teach our incorporeal friend a lesssson on lying!' The beast growled and snapped harder at the children. 'The person who asked for your SOULsss, they were willing to pay a lot of money for them! I can't lossse thisss!' Muffet stood firm, the other spiders all chattered gleefully. 'But.. It wasss weird... I ssswore I sssaw them in the ssshadowsss, changing ssshape?'

Chara's eyes widened, and all the children started whispering amongst themselves nervously. Taking their opportunity of the distraction, Frisk shoved their hand into the web, desperately trying to reach their pocket. They succeded, and held up the rubbery doughnut they had bought in the Ruins, with only a tiny bite out of it.

'See?' Chara pointed to the doughnut. 'Not lying! Now free my friends.'

'W-where did you get that?' Muffet shivered, determined not to let the children go. 'Did you sssteal it?' She frowned at Chara. 'Oh my pet, it's time to sssshow thessse children what we do with thievesss!'

'My shoe!' Aurora cried. 'The pet got my shoe!' Aurora wiggled their left foot, which now only bore a little grey sock. The beast swallowed the shoe whole and tried to leap at the children again.

'What'sss thisss?' Muffet asked, tilting her head. A spider crawled up to Muffet and handed her a slip of paper. 'A telegram from the Ruinsss?'

The children all breathed a sigh of relief.

'It saysss, that they ssssaw you, and you helped donate to their caussse!' Muffet clapped her free hands and sighed. 'I'm sssory children! Thisss has all been a grave missssunderssstanding!' She handed the telegram back to the delivery spider, who crawled off. 'The person who asked for your SOULsss, they must have been looking for a different ssset of human children! I thought you were all children who hated sssspidersss! Well, as payback, you can come back anytime, and I'll wrap you up and let you play with my pet again!'

The children all shrank back. The pet seemed to have given up on its meal.

'Ahuhuhu! Your facessss! I'm jussst joking. I'll ssspare you now.' She touched the web, which immediately disappeared, freeing the children. 'Well that wasss fun! Sssee you again, deariesss!'

'Well... She seems... nice...' Fiona trailed off.  
'We should just be glad she only cares about her spiders and not the other monsters...'

Percy started.

'Or else we would be pet-meat!' Thomas finished.

'Well, we must be getting close the CORE.' Chara said. 'We best keep moving, that robot will be waiting for us.'

'Thanks for helping us back there, by the way.' Fiona smiled at the ghost.

'Least I could do.' They sighed. 'I hate being so useless! I wish I could be corporeal again.'

'Well, who knows?' Cissy said. 'Remember your legs are growing back! All you need is a vessel to fuse with and you'll be.... well maybe not human.... but at the very least corporeal again!'

'Maybe Alphys can build you a robot body, like Mettaton.' Fiona said.

'Over my dead body!' Chara cried. 'Which is still in the Ruins.' They laughed. 'I don't want her to make me rectangular like that freak. How do people find him so attractive anyway?' Chara narrowed their eyes in confusion. 'He's literally just a freaking rectangle.'

'You sound like Undyne!' Aurora laughed.

Chara blinked. 'Damn. I suppose I do when I say that.'

'Hey we're out of the spider parlour!' Cody cried, running ahead. 'What's this?'

'It's a poster for Mettaton's show!' Chara replied. 'A tale of two star-crossed lovers, bound together by fate.' Chara read the times at the bottom. 'God it's almost time for the performance!'

'Hold on... are we... backstage?' Cissy looked around, and saw curtains and stairs leading downwards.

'Oh my goodness we are!' Fiona pointed. 'And look! There's the stage!'

'Do we just... walk across it?' Percy suggested.

'I guess so. People are still talking, so maybe we're safe. We can look like crew members or something.'

'We best be careful. It could be a trap.'

'I guess it's our only way through. The stairs seem to blocked by some lion.'

'I wish I could wear a dress.' The mopey lion said.

'Ok. Let's go.' Fiona said.

They all carefully walked across the stage, which was still dark. As they got halfway across, the curtain rose and the stage lights flickered on.

'Oh poop.' Aurora whispered.

'That human, could it be?' Mettaton cried. 'My one true love?!'

Romantic music started playing, and Mettaton descended down the stairs, wearing a bright blue dress. The children giggled at the sight.

'Oh my love! Please run away!' Mettaton started singing, leaving the children feeling very stupid centrestage.

'What do we do?' Thomas cried.

'Just run along with it!' Fiona hissed.

Frisk had gone off and seemed to be dancing with Mettaton.

The audience went wild, it was such a hilarious sight.

'I'm glad I'm a ghost now.' Chara said. 'Or else I'd be red with embarrassment.'

'So sad!' Mettaton cried. His song seemed to be finished. 'So sad you are going to the dungeon!' He put his hand against his head in mock-despair. 'Welp, toodles!' He pulled out a remote and pressed the button. A large trapdoor underneath all the children collapsed inward, sending the children all spiralling down towards the rocks.

'Oof!' They all landed on the stones.

'Oh! My love has been cast into the dungeon! With a puzzle so dastardly, my paramour will surely perish!'

'Oh no.' Percy whispered.

'Oh heavens, have mercy!' Mettaton mock-cried. 'The sadistic coloured-tile puzzle! Each tile has a different function- Oh wait.' He stopped suddenly. 'Haven't you already seen this puzzle before?'

'Yes but-' Cody started to say.

'Then you know all the rules then! I won't waste our precious time repeating them!' Mettaton giggled. 'Oh, and you better hurry. If you don't complete this puzzle in 30 seconds, you'll be incinerated by these jets of fire!' He laughed. 'Ahahahaha! Hah! Hah, ha. Oh, my poor love! I'm so filled with grief, I can't stop laughing!'

Music started to play, and the countdown started. The children all ran out onto the tile puzzle. Each got affected by the puzzle in a different way.

'Don't go on orange then to blue!' Percy shrieked, as piranhas bit at his behind.

'Purple is slipperyyyyy!' Thomas perturbed, as he slipped from a purple tile into the water. The pirahnas smelt him, then turned away.

'Purple then blue are okay!'

'Red burns you!' Fiona cried.

'Yellow e-electocutes y-y-y-y-you!' Cody stammered, twitching from a nasty shock he had received.

Frisk gave Cissy a thumbs up as they stepped onto a green tile, which just flashed, making a 'Yeah!' sound as they walked.

'Pink and green are okay!' Cissy called out. The children all walked onto those coloured tiles as quick as they could, avoiding all other obstacles.

'Time's up!' Mettaton called out. 'Watch out for the flames, darlings!' The flames edged closer and the entire coloured tile maze turned white, indicating it had been turned off. 'They're getting closer!' The flames slowly edged closer to the children. 'Any minute now!' The flames stopped right next to the children, as if waiting for a cue. Mettaton coughed a robotic cough. 'Ahem! That-'

'Ring...' Fiona's phone rang, indicated Alphys had come in to save the day.

'That's w-where you're wrong Mettaton! I'm h-hacking i-into the f-firewall now!'

'Whoosh!' The flames were immiedately extinguished.

'Oh no!' Mettaton cried. 'I've been foiled again by the great Dr. Alphys!'

'That's right Mettaton! You'll never defeat us! Not as long as we keep working together!' Alphys seemed to sound a lot more confident than before.

'Oh, Alphys, haven't you and the humans forgotten something?'

'W-what-'

'A green tile makes a sound, and you have to fight a monster!' Mettaton laughed. Frisk and Cissy eyeballed each other, scared. 'Well darlings, that monster... is me! Ahahahha!'

'Not again...' Chara sighed.

'This is it darlings, say goodbye!'

'Ring...' The phone started to ring, again.

'Is that your phone?' Mettaton asked. 'You'd better answer it!'

'H-hey! I k-know t-things s-seem b-bad, b-but t-there's one last thing I i-installed on your phone! Y-you see that button that says“ Yellow”?'

'Yeah...?' Fiona replied, confused.

'Press it!'

'Click!'

Suddenly, all the children's SOULs started to change colour, only after a few minutes of them returning to their original colours.

'Yellow. Who'd have thought.' Thomas smiled.

'Now fire!' Alphys called.

'Fire? What-'

Frisk's yellow SOUL started firing magic bullets at Mettaton's metal body. They struck him, causing him to convulse violently.  
'Oooh! Oooh! OOOOH! You've defeated me!' Mettaton said unconvincingly. 'You were stronger than I thought, etc.' He wheeled off.' Whatever.'

'L-look's like we did it! Good job team!'

'All thanks to you, Alphys.' Fiona replied.

'W-what? R-really? I n-never thought-' She stopped. 'You know, for the longest time, I never thought I could do anything right. But guiding y'all has made feel... more confident about myself! Yeah! So not long now, the CORE is just past MTT resort, which is up ahead! Good luck, humans!'  
'Click...'


	22. It's Raining Somewhere Else

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ah, the MTT Resort. A chance for the children to relax, for once. The children haven't had an opportunity to get to know Sans very well, but are they ready for what he has to say? And as the impending doom of the CORE looms near, the children discover they're not quite ready to leave yet.

'Hiya, kiddos.' Sans called. He was standing  outisde the resort, to the left of the doors.

'Hey Sans!' Cody called. 'How's it goin'?'

'I'm pretty good, yeah.'

'You have a station nearby?' Cissy asked.

'Yeah I do. I got four stations.' He explained.

The dim lights of the resort shone through the windows, illuminating his skeletal form rather eerily. 'Got one out in Snowdin, where Papyrus hired me, one out in Waterfall, where Undyne hired me, one out near Alphys' lab, where – you guessed it, Alphys hired me and finally one not too far from here. An old friend of mine hired me for that one.'

'Who was that?' Aurora asked.

'Um...' He hesitated. 'I wouldn't ask questions you don't wanna know the answer to, kid.' He shook his head. 'Anyway, I heard you're going to the CORE, wanna join me for a bite to eat first?'

'Sure Sans!' Fiona replied. 'We'd love to.'

'Welp just follow me.' He turned, and went up the alleyway on the left. He turned and winked at the children. 'Follow me, I know a shortcut.'

With a click of his fingers, the children were inside a fancy restaurant inside the resort.  
'Well here we are kids. You're nearing the end of your journey. How does it feel?'

'Pretty... weird.' Cissy replied.

'Yeah, like, I'm excited to go back to my family and all...' Cody started

'But we can't help but feel like we're gonna miss you guys.' Thomas finished for him.

'You're my new family!' Aurora sobbed.

'Hey, don't cry kid! It'll be okay!' He sighed.

'But yeah, I know you gotta keep going.' He winked at Frisk. 'Stay determined and all.' Frisk smiled at him, and he sighed harder. 'But is what you have to do... really worth it?'

Silence.

'Nah, I'm rootin' for ya, kids.'

'I've noticed something, Sans.' Thomas wagged his finger accusingly at the squat skeleton. 'If you have the ability to teleport, why didn't y'all just teleport us to the barrier?'

'That way we could get home quicker.' Percy finished.

Sans blinked. 'I.... I wish it were that simple...' He sighed again. 'Besides, there are some things in life you have to work for. Now I know I don't give the best example,' Sans said, seeing the children's glares. 'But you know... Papyrus is good for that. He helps me get past my laziness and get back out there.' He looked out the window. 'Well if it weren't for him... I don't know where I'd be.' He sniffed, and turned to see Aurora doing the same. 'Hey, don't start the waterworks here, let it rain somewhere else.'

'So what then? Why did you bring us here?' Chara folded their arms and stared through Sans.

'Let... Let me tell you a story.' Sans pulled his chair into the table and spoke firmly. 'So I'm a sentry in Snowdin forest, right? And right near the boundaries of the area, deep in the forest, there's this HUGE door.'

The children all glanced at each other, they knew the door he was talking about.  
'It's perfect for practising knock-knock jokes.' He chuckled. 'Anyway, one day, I was knocking them out, as per usual, when suddenly, I hear a woman's voice.'

'That-' Cody started to say, but stopped when he got a glare from Fiona.

'Who's there?' Sans did a dead-on impression of the goat lady's voice. 'I say, “dishes.” Then she says-'

'Dishes who?' Aurora giggled. Sans laughed.

'Dishes a very bad joke. And she just howls with laughter, like it's the best joke she's heard in a hundred years.'

'She always did like terrible puns.' Chara whispered to themself, a small, sad smile on their face.

'So I keep them coming, and she keeps laughing. After about a dozen of them, SHE knocks and says, “Knock-knock!” I say,

“Who's there?” She says, “Little old lady.” I respond, “Little old lady who?” “Oh!” She cries, “I did not know you could yodel!”.'

'Wow.' Percy breathed, rolling his eyes. 

'Wow indeed. Suffice to say, this woman was extremely good. So we just sat there for hours and hours, telling bad jokes through the door. Eventually I had to go, Papyrus gets kind of cranky without his bedtime story. But she told me to come by again, so I did. And again, and again. Telling bad jokes through the door. It's a thing now.' He paused, not wanting to say the next part.

'And then what?' Thomas asked, noticing the pained look on Sans' face.

'One day, I noticed she wasn't laughing as much. I asked her what was wrong, then she said something... interesting.' He hesitated again. 'She was crying. She said, “If a human ever comes through the door, can you promise me something?” I hesitated, but I agreed. “Watch over them, protect them, will you not?” Now I hate making promises, and this woman, I didn't even know her name!' He drummed his finger bones on the table. 'But someone who sincerely likes bad jokes, has an integrity you can't say no to.' He winked at Cissy, who looked at her dark blue SOUL glowing gently in her chest.

'So what did you do?' Thomas asked.

'You wanna know would have happened if she hadn't have said anything?'

They all gulped.

'Buddy...' Suddenly, his pupils vanished, and two black sockets stared back at the children. His voice dropped, sounding demonic. 'Y O U ' D B E D E A D W H E R E Y O U S T A N D.'

The children all recoiled in horror. Sans quickly returned back to his natural, casual self.

'Hey, lighten up buckos! I'm just joking with y'all. Besides, haven't I done a good job of protecting y'all?'

The children all glared at him, thinking back to all the times he wasn't there when hairs were singed, skin was burnt, spears were pierced, and people almost killed.

'What's that look supposed to mean?' He cried, looking from person to person. 'Am I wrong?' He shook his head. 'Ah, well. Not long now.' He stood up. 'Take care of yourselves, kids. Cause someone really cares about you.' He walked off.

'Well... that was...' Fiona seemed to be lost for words.

'Certainly something?' Cissy finished her trademark quote for her.

'I suppose you could say that.' She smiled.

'Let's explore this resort.'

The children all walked around the restaurant, and found a pair of construction workers having their coffee break.

'God... today was a tough day.' A muscular red monster moaned.

'The entire CORE was shifted around!' The squat, mouse-like monster twittered excitedly.

'My arms hurt. Glad the boss let me have a slightly longer coffee break.'

'You're telling me! These tiny legs get really sore when the elevators are offline!'

'Offline?' Cissy cried to Fiona. 'How are we gonna get to the top of the CORE?'

'Not to mention the entire interior seems to have shifted around.' Thomas said. 'Whatever that means.'

'The CORE is a building made up of a series of mazes.' The muscular monster shifted towards the children. 'The entire layout can be shifted at will. The previous Royal Scientist – forget the name – designed it. It helps when repairing it, cooling it, getting to different areas, whatever. Today was just one giant puzzle though. I hate puzzles. Getting to work was tough enough, now this?' He sighed. 'Yeah I wouldn't go in if I were you. It's dangerous enough as it is.'

'Unless you're trying to visit the King!' The mouse cried. 'He's nice like that. Always open to have visitors.'

'Must be a lonely man.' Chara nodded.

'Can be, sometimes.' The monster huffed. 

'Ever since his son died and the queen disappeared.' The mouse nodded. 

'Anyway, good luck kids! Whatever you're doing.'

'Bye bye for now!'

'Well, they seemed awfully nice.' Fiona said to Chara as she waved goodbye.

'Monsterkind are truly a race to behold.' Chara agreed, itching their newly grown feet.

'Ring...'

'Hello Papyrus!' Fiona called.

'It's me, punk!' Undyne shrieked from the other end. In the background, Papyrus screamed as pans crashed against the ground. 'Papyrus and I cooking at the moment!' She laughed.

'It doesn't seem to be going as planned!' Papyrus cried as a jar shattered against the floor.

'You kidding? This is what cooking supposed to be like! Isn't that right, kids?'

'Mm hmm. Sure.' Fiona lied.

'Welp! Looks like it's ready!' Undyne was clearly drunk. 'Eat up, punks!'

'Thwap!' The children could hear spaghetti thwap against the receiver.

'Click...'

'What in the underground-' Chara said, shaking their head. 'I don't know.'

'What's this?' Cody came to the doors of a fast food restaurant near the hotel part of the resort. 'MTT Burger Emporium.' He read off the sign above the door. 'Can we go in?'

'Sure, why not.'

'Hello. Welcome to the MTT Burger Emporium. Sparkle up your day (TM).' A tall, lanky bear monster stood behind the counter. He was shaking slightly, he had oily hair and skin covered in acne, and little bits of bumfluff growing underneath his nose and on his chin. 'What can I get you?'

'Can you tell me anything about the CORE? Or Mettaton?' Fiona asked

'I'm sorry.' He said in his same mechanical voice from before. He didn't even look at her. 'I can't talk to customers who haven't bought anything.'

'Fine. I'll get a Glamburger for this starving one here.'

'100G please.'

'Bloody rip-off.' Thomas whispered.

'There you go.'

'I'll be back in five minutes.' The man walked off and within five minutes had made the glamburger. It seemed rather plasticy.

'Mmm!' Cody licked his lips. 'That's nice!'

'Right. Now can you tell me anything about the CORE, or Mettaton?' Fiona asked again.

'Why do y'all keep trying to talk to me?' He mumbled. 'I'll get in trouble if I get chummy with the customers.' His voice cracked on the word 'trouble'. He sighed. 'So I wanted to be an actor...'

'Look for God's sake we don't have time! What do you know about Mettaton, or the CORE? Or Asgore, or anything?' Thomas slammed his hands on the counter, startling the assistant.

'O-oh umm... okay... well.. let's see...' He stammered, fumbling around his shirt for his name badge. 'Well my name is Wallace Luigi Pearson, but everyone calls me Burgerpants. Don't ask why.'

'And what about Mettaton?'

'Mettaton? What's to know about Mettaton?' He gestured around the restaurant. 'God, have you looked around you? This place is a labrynth of bad choices! And everytime we try to change something for the better, he vetoes it and says, “That's not how they do it on the surface!”' He scoffed. 'Yeah right. Cause everyone is eating burgers made out of sequins and glue.'

Cody went pale green and spat out his remaining mouthful of glamburger, coughing.

'How would Mettaton know anything about the surface?' Chara asked, floating onto the counter.

'How should I know? All I know is that Alphys built him, but he keeps rambling on like it was his idea somehow!' He threw his hands up in the air. 'He and the Dr. were like friends, but as soon as he made it big, cccreeek!' He made a slicing motion with his hand across his neck. 'Bam. Done. Completely avoiding her.'

'Jeez. Harsh.' Cissy said.

'Yeah, I really don't like the guy. He's always writing songs about how bad I am at my job. It sucks.'

'So how could he possible think being built was his idea? And also why is he being such a dick to Alphys? Is he some rogue AI or something?'

'Nah. All I know is that Mettaton is the only robot with a SOUL. I think his metal body is just some kind of vessel. For all I know, he could be a ghost or something!'

Chara's eyes widened and they looked at Fiona, who looked back at them. 'You mean, Mettaton was a ghost, and Alphys created a body for him?' They asked, edging towards Burgerpants

'Hey, I said for all I know. I don't know shi-' He looked at Aurora. 'Uhh... I-I mean... I don't know stuffing about him.'

'Well you certainly told us a lot. Thank you. Do you know anything about King Asgore?'

'He always told me to “Follow my dreams”.'

'Really?'

'Well more so on TV adverts and speeches, but you know, still inspiring. Didn't lead me to where I wanted to go.' He grabbed a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket. 'When I first moved to Hotland from Snowdin, it was my dream to work with Mettaton!' He laughed. 'Be careful what you wish for kid.' He pulled out a lighter and lit his cigarette. 'I'm 19 and I've already wasted my entire life.' He puffed and blew a smoke ring which wafted through the restaurant.

Percy started coughing violently. 'T-thank you for all your help!' He cried, walking out of the restaurant.

'Ok... so we go to the CORE now?' Aurora asked.

'I guess. We certainly learned a lot about Mettaton.' Cissy replied, rubbing her hands through Aurora's long brown hair.

'You think-' Chara hesitated. 'You think Mettaton could really be a ghost? I could fuse with some sort of vessel?'

'It's entirely possible.' Fiona smiled.

They walked out the double doors of the resort and came across a bridge heading towards the CORE. The hum was practically deafening, and the entire building shone flourescent blue. Two tall, dark silhouttes chattered ahead and walked through into the CORE.

'Ring...'

'W-what a-a-are t-those monsters doing... uh... h-here?' Alphys asked shakily. 'The entire CORE is supposed to be shut off during break!' She turned away from the phone and coughed. 'B-but that's n-no big d-deal! Ahehe! Just walk on th-through!'

'Click...'

'It looks like we're on a run for our money, lads.' Thomas said.

'These monsters look ruthless. Stand guard. Stick with me.' Fiona gathered the younger children in. They stepped into the CORE.

'Ring...'

'Okay!' Alphys cried. 'Now take the elevator to the top of the CORE!'

'The elevator is not working!' Fiona cried through the phone. Lights flashed around them, and the heat was overpowering.

'What? T-they s-should be working! I activated them just before!' She sighed. 'Well, m-my map s-says, head to the right then keep going straight!'

The children took the right path, and discovered a dead end. Fire spewed from the pit below them.

'W-what? T-that p-p-pit isn't on m-my map! I-I didn't p-prepare for this... Oh god... I c-can't do this.... I... uh... I gotta go...'

'Wait Alphys! Come back!' Fiona cried, but it was too late. They were on their own.


	23. CORE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mighty CORE stands in their way. The children are trapped in a maze-like structure with no guide to help them. Mettaton faces them on the other side. How will they get out? And what has Alphys really been doing this whole time? Is she who she says she is?

The CORE twisted and winded along with different paths, the children could have easily gotten lost. The lights along the walls were almost blinding, the heat was overpowering, and the air was filled with the smell of ozone.

'How could anyone work in such a place?' Fiona asked, running her hands along the damp walls. 'It's so damp and hot.'

'I couldn't last a minute here.' Thomas said, fanning his face with his hat.

Ahead of them, one of the silhouttes from before came into view. It chuckled loudly.

'Watch out!' Aurora called.

'Madjick.' It chanted. The strange creature wore a long black cloak, little black booties pointed at the end and a large black hat. It had two large orbs floating over either shoulder, which orbited around his head.

'Stare at the orbs!' Percy cried. The children, all trusting his judgment and quick thinking, stared hard at the orbs. They were very hypnotising, but soon weakened under their glare. Madjick shrunk away, defeated. The children hurried on, desperate to find their way out.

'BOOM!' A large warrior stepped out in front. Her morningstar smashed against the ground and she growled angrily.  
'Goodnight.' She called in a deep voice. Her voice was thrown around the room, and it didn't seem to originate from her mouth. Every so often her head would drop, as if she were trying to stay awake. Aurora noticed this, and started singing a little lullaby. Her head drooped further. Fiona joined in, and soon enough everyone (except Frisk, who just hummed) joined in as well. Within a minute the giant beast was asleep. They crept around her and kept running.

'Lasers?' Cody cried. 'I can't go through this again! Look at it!'

'Ring...'

'O-o-ok-k-kay... um...' Alphys was stammering even harder. She was clearly still undergoing her panic attack. 'I-I-I w-won't h-h-hesitate t-t-this t-time.... um... I-I'll just... t-turn off the lasers and l-let y-you g-g-go through!' There was a click on the other side of the receiver, but nothing happened.  
'W-what? T-they're n-n-not turning off... t-this isn't... oh god...'

'Alphys-'

'N-n-no it's fine! I h-have t-this under control! I-I'll just t-turn o-off a-all the power in the area altogether and let you through!'

'Click!' Sure enough, the lights went out and the lasers were turned off. The only light was the light of the strange chemicals running underneath the bridge as they walked across.

'Ftooh-ftooh!' The lasers flickered.

'WAIT! STOP!' Alphys cried, freezing the children in their tracks. The lasers had all turned back on, and were glowing bright blue. The children dared not move a muscle. 'T-the power... it's... t-turning itself b-back on... Dammit... this isn't s-supposed to..' She trailed off. 'Okay. Hold on. I'm going to turn the power off again. When I do that, move a little, then stop. That way if the lasers come back on, you won't get hurt. You have to trust me on this, okay?'

'Click!' The power went off again and the children raced across.

'Ftooh-ftooh!' The children froze.

'Click!' The charade repeated until finally they made it across the bridge.

'Thank...' Thomas panted, short of breath and a little shaken. 'God... that's... over...'

'We're still... nowhere... near... the... top... of the CORE.' Fiona panted and straightened herself up. 'We gotta keep moving.'

Signs marked the corridors as they walked.

'North, the warrior's path.' Cissy read. 'West, the sage's path. Any path leads to The End. What's the end?'

'Top of the CORE, perhaps.' Fiona shrugged. I suggest we go West, the warrior's path sounds a little dangerous.'

'Screw that!' Cody sauntered off straight ahead. 'North I go!' Ten minutes later, he came limping back. 'Don't go in there, unless you wanna face a very angry and very powerful group of froggits and whimsuns.'

'You certainly learned your lesson didn't ya? Idiot.' Cissy lightly punched her youunger brother on the arm.

'Anyway, I just checked,' Percy said, walking back towards the others, closing his notebook and readjusting his glasses. 'West is definitely a puzzle.'

'Mind if I do it this time? And you help me?' Thomas asked, grabbing Percy's hand.

'Yeah, sure.' Percy smiled at him. They walked together westwards, leaving the others behind.

'So, this here controls the boxes, and the button fires the bullets. Looks like you have two bullets, so you can use one to destroy one box, and then another to destroy the other ship.'

'Okay, I think I got it.'  
Percy guided his hand along the controls, until the boxes where in place. Together, they shot the ship, solving the puzzle.

'We did it!' Thomas cried, hugging Thomas. Without thinking, he kissed him on the forehead. Percy suddenly recoiled back with shock. He shivered.  
'Um... aw jeez... I'm sorry... I-'

'Don't be.' Percy waved him off. 'It was just sudden that's all. But I did... kinda... like it...'  
Thomas blushed. 'Come on, we should get back to the others.' He took Percy's hand in his and together they walked back to the group.

'East we go! That's The End.' Percy said triumphantly. They walked East, which ascended up a flight of stairs and winded along a sequence of narrow pathways, until they finally came to a bridge. On the other end of the bridge a door, marked with a distorted version of the delta rune sat next to an elevator, which lead to the bottom of the CORE and now seemed to be funcitoning.

'Now it works...' Percy shook his head.

'In we go.' Fiona sighed. 'No doubt Mettaton will be waiting for us.'

'How are we going to fight him?' Chara asked. 'His metal body is invulnerable to attacks.

'Just absorb all the blows like we usually do until we tire him out.'

'Or until Alphys comes to save us.' Cissy added.

'What if she doesn't?' Thomas asked. 'What if all this just lead to our untimely demise to her dumb robot.'

'She'll be there for us.' Fiona replied. 'She always has. Now let's go in. We have to keep moving.'

They walked in, and sure enough, Mettaton was waiting for them. The room was dimly lit, and the room was in the shape of a heart. The only exit was blocked by Mettaton.

'Oh yes! There you are, darlings!' He posed very dramatically, like a movie supervillain.

'It's time for our little showdown! It's time to finally stop the “malfunctioning” robot. NOT!'

The children all looked at each other. What was he suggesting?

'Malfunctioning? Reprogramming? Get real.' He scoffed. 'This was all just a big show. An act.'

'What are you talking about, Mettaton?' Cissy fired back.

'Alphys has been playing you for a fool the whole time.'

'What?!' She cried.

'I knew it!' Percy yelled.

'See I told you we couldn't trust her!' Thomas fumed at Fiona and Cissy.

'As she watched you on the big screen, she grew attached to our adventure. She desperately wanted to be a part of it.' Once again, the sadistic robot seemed to be enjoying to the level on uncomfortableness of the situation. 'So she decided to insert herself into your story.'

'How?'

'Why?' Cissy and Cody asked at the same time.

'She reactivated puzzles. She disabled elevators. She enlisted me to torment you. All so she could save you from dangers that didn't exist.'

'But why?' Cissy asked again, losing more and more faith in the one person she thought she could trust.

'So you would think she's the great person...' He paused. 'That she's not.'

'I can't believe she would do that... to us... to herself...' Fiona hung her head in shame.

'Now it is time for her finest hour. At this very moment, Alphys is waiting outside the room. During our “battle” she will interrupt. She will pretend to “deactivate” me, “saving” you one final time. Finally, she'll be the heroine of your adventure.'

'LIAR!' Chara cried, not able to face the fact that a scientist that could grant them their life back could manipulate children in such a way.

'You'll regard her so highly she'll even be able to convince y'all not to leave.'

Chara lowered their raised fists.

'Or not.' He wheeled forward slightly. 'You see, I've had enough of this predictable charade. I have no desire to harm humans, far from it actually. My only desire is to entertain. After all, the audience deserves to have a good show, don't they? And what's a good show...' He raised his arms up. 'Without a plot twist?'

Suddenly, the doors behind them slammed shut. The children were trapped inside. There was a sudden knock at the door.

'H-h-hey! Wh-wh-what's going on?! Th-th-the door just locked itself!' Alphys cried.

'H-he... he wasn't lying.' Chara's face fell as they lost their trust in Alphys.

The stage began to light up with various colours.

'Sorry folks! The old programme's been cancelled! But we've got a finale that will drive you wild! The platform lifted off the ground slightly, before soaring into the air at a great speed. 'REAL DRAMA! REAL ACTION! REAL BLOODSHED! ON OUR NEW SHOW... ATTACK OF THE KILLER ROBOT!'


	24. Death By Glamour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oooh yes! The big moment arrives! Mettaton is blocking the way forward, and the door behind them is locked. Can Alphys redeem her betrayal and use her skills to help the humans? Or will they die glamourously? Chara reveals the truth on how they must get home, and it's sinister.

'Yes! It was I who rearranged the CORE! It was I who enlisted those monsters to kill you! But do you know what would be more satisfying? Killing you myself!' Mettaton laughed maniaclly.

'W-well w-what do we do?' Cissy panicked.  
'

Ring...'

'Uuh... I-It s-s-seems p-pretty b-b-bad... b-but...' Alphys stammered through the phone.

'Fat lot of good you've done us!' Thomas growled.

'Shut up Thomas!' Fiona hissed back, covering the phone with her hand. She put it back to her ear. 'Uhh what do we do Alphys? We need your help! Now more than ever!' There was a pause, then Alphys spoke.

'Okay.' She sounded more confident. 'You know how Mettaton is a-always f-facing... uh... f-forward?'

'Yeah?'

'Th-that's b-because... he uh... has a... um... s-switch o-o-on h-hs b-backside, and... um... I-if y-you p-press it he'll be... uh... he'll be... umm... vulnerable. Well, gotta go! Bye!'

'Click...'

'Okay so now would be a good time to turn Mettaton around!' Fiona told the others, just barely dodging a magic cube thrown at her from Mettaton.

'Hey Mettaton!' Cody shouted. 'There's a mirror behind you!'

'A mirror?' Mettaton gasped. 'I have to look good for my performance!' He turned around, searching frantically for the phantom mirror.

'Hmm... I don't see it, where is i-'

'Click!' Cody ran up and flicked the large switch on his back.

'Did you...' Mettaton growled, both scared and angy. 'Just flip..' He turned back around, slowly. 'My switch?!' He put his hands over his head and began convulsing violently. His dials were freaking out and his displays were flashing between colours. Suddenly, the room went white, and the children had to shield their eyes from the light.

'OOOH YES....'

Stage lights came down from the ceiling. Dry ice filled the room. A new figure was obscured from view, and spoke with Mettaton's voice.

'Oh my... If you flicked my switch, that can only mean one thing.'

The children all looked at each other, stunned.

'You're desperate for the premiere of my new body. How rude...'

'New body?' Cissy whispered. Chara shrugged.

'Lucky for you, I've been aching to show off my new body for a long time. So as thanks, I'll give you a handsome reward. I'll make your last living moments...'

'Bong!' Some sort of instrument sounded, and the lights flickered off, no longer blinding the children and revealing Mettaton's new form.

'Absolutely beautiful!'

The walls glowed with different displays. One had a banner which read, 'Mettaton EX makes his premiere!'

'Mettaton EX?' Cody cried. 'What the hell?'

Mettaton's EX form was much more humanoid. He had a metal wig which covered his right eye. His body was slender. Under his purple chestplate he had a glowing pink heart, which seemed to represent his SOUL. But his most impressive feature was-

'OH MY GOD HIS LEGS!' Cissy, Fiona, and Thomas all cried simultaneously. He had incredibly long and good-looking legs. His thighs were noticeably large and he wore a pair of long, hot pink boots with long, thin stilletos. He looked like a supermodel.

'I am the idol everyone craves!' Mettaton gasped. Stage lights were blaring. On the left hand wall, a display of Mettaton's ratings sat. They were currently at just less than 4000 and were dropping slowly. Mettaton frowned. 'What good is a show if no-one watches it?' He stamped his stiletto on the ground. 'I need at least 10000 for Mettaton's sake!'

'Everyone! We need to boost his ratings! I think it's the only way we can get past!' Fiona said.

'And damage that SOUL of his. Our SOULs are still yellow so we can still shoot him.' Thomas added. 'Not too much, we don't want to... uh... kill him.'

'The attacks also destroy his attacks.' Chara added. 'Frisk has already destroyed a bunch of tiny Mettatons.' They all turned and looked, and sure enough, a very giggly Frisk and Aurora were shooting Mettaton's pitiful attacks with glee.

'Lights! Camera! Action!' Mettaton cried. His dancing intsefied, and he seemed to making deliberate attempts to show off his legs. Back at home, the audience was going wild on their couches.

'OMG IT'S METTATON!' Papyrus cried. 'HE'S SO BEAUTIFUL!'

'Wait...' Undyne hushed him. 'ARE THOSE THE HUMANS?!'

Mettaton stretched his legs, showing them off even further. He seemed to be trying... to kick the humans? The humans simply responded by shooting at his legs, which stung. He scowled, and prepped something else.

'Pop quiz, hotshots!' Mettaton stood back, still towering over the humans with his new immense height. 'How great am I?' He put his hand over his chestplate. 'Come on, start speaking. This one's an essay question.'

'LEGS! LEGS! LEGS!' Thomas cried rapidly. He quickly covered his mouth, turning red with embarrassment at what he just said.  
Mettaton smirked. 'That's right! Legs was the correct answer!' He stuck his hand up in the air dramatically. Suddenly, the ratings went up exponentially. They know sat at 4500.

'We have to keep going! We need to up the ante!' Fiona cried.

'Hey Mettatrash!' Cody insulted. Mettaton fumed and glared at him. 'Betcha can't hit me!'

Mettaton smiled. 'We'll see about that darling!' Mettaton fired a bunch of attacks at child, who dodged them with ease.

'Ha!' Cody laughed as the ratings grew rapidly.

'5000! Good work, Cody! Keep it up!' Cissy slapped him on the back.

'Your essay really showed your heart...' Mettaton said. 'How about I show you mine?'

The glass cover over his heart popped off, and his SOUL floated up to in front of his chestplate. It started firing millions of little lightning bolts at the children. The ratings kept climbing.

'Ow!' Aurora cried as a bolt hit her, bringing the climbing rankings to an abrupt halt at 5000.

'Hnngghhh!' Mettaton groaned. 'You could not keep to your boasts! You've disappointed my audience!' He turned back to face the children. 'Fear not! Choose a different path, for these attacks are only going to get harder!'

Aurora sobbed at the burning bruise on her arm, but joined the others in posing dramatically. The ratings jumped up.

'6000!' Mettaton cried, pleased. 'Despite being hurt, you posed dramatically! Oh the audience applauds!' He gushed.

'The audience? Huh!' Thomas huffed. He turned on his heel and stared into the camera. 'The audience can suck a fat one!' He scoffed.

'Someone's a little feisty!' Mettaton oohed.

'What's that? You're rooting for the humans' destruction?' Mettaton grinned evilly. 'Gladly.' Mettaton summoned the power of his SOUL, and sent waves of the little lightning bolts, which the children dodged with great difficulty. 'Drama! Romance! Bloodshed!'

From the sides, little robots came towards the children, throwing floating hearts at the children. The children could not shoot the hearts and the SOUL, and dodge the bolts at the same time. All the children got pelted badly. With each hit, the children's SOULs were weakened, but the ratings went up immensely.

'We gotta fight harder!' Cody screamed. He stood back up and shot Mettaton's floating SOUL. It took some considerable damage, and it exploded. The SOUL remained intact, but the blast had blew his arms off. The violence sent the crowd wild, and the ratings were boosted. They now sat at 8000.

'Wh-wha- A-arms?' Mettaton scoffed like it was nothing. 'Who needs arms when you have legs like these? I'm still going to win!'

'Ha! As if!' Cody scoffed. He seemed to be enjoying himself. 'You'll never beat us!'

'Drama! Romance! Bloodshed!' Mettaton cried again. 'BOMBS!' Mettaton sent a wave of little bombs at the children.

'No wait! Don't shoot!' Aurora tried to warn the others, but it was too late. Cody and Frisk had already fired at the bombs, which sent a laser firing straight at them.

'Pow!' They struck the two straight in the chest, and they fell to the ground, wounded. Their SOULs glowing only faintly. The ratings shot up to 8500.

'Ha ha! Do you really want humanity to perish? Or do you just believe in yourselves that much?'

Thomas' fists clenched, turning his knuckles white. 'Bring it, Scrap-pile!'

'Ha ha ha! How good are you on the dance floor?' Mettaton asked. A disco ball came down from the ceiling, firing lasers which spun around the room. 'Let's dance.'

'Blue! Don't move!' Aurora cried, freezing everyone in their tracks as the blue laser moved through them.

'White lasers? What do you do then?' Cissy cried, being singed by the white laser which struck her first.

'Shoot the disco ball!' Percy cried, firing at the spinning ball of death. A bullet struck the silver ball, and all the white lasers turned blue, and all the blue lasers turned white. 'Just keep alternating! And stay still!'

'Enough of this!' Mettaton shouted, casting the disco ball out. The ratings sat at 9000. 'We've become so distant, darlings. How about another heart to heart?' He summoned his SOUL again, and sent more bolts at the children. Cody and Frisk got up, and using the last of their strength, rejoined the group for the final curtain. Mettaton scowled. He sent bombs to guard his SOUL from the blasts.

'BI-DI-BI-DI!' A warning symbol flashed on the right-hand wall, next to Aurora.

'Watch out!' Fiona cried, barely pulling Aurora away before spikes in the form of legs shot of the wall impaled her tiny body.

'SCHWOOP!'

'He's using them as a distraction! Keep aiming for that SOUL! Just watch out!' Percy yelled.

The bombs got shot and set off the laser, which Fiona deflected with her frying pan. They all shot together at the SOUL, which vibrated more violently with each bullet, until-  
'Pow!' The SOUL exploded again, the blast causing his legs to be blown off. He collapsed to the ground, a limbliss chestplate with a head sitting on the ground. Smoke poured out of his armholes.

'Cough... cough...' Mettaton moaned. 'Ah well. Then are you the stars? Can y'all save humanity from destruction!' Mettaton looked like he was about to summon an attack, but then looked at the ratings. 'Oh my! Look at those ratings! 10000! We have reached our viewer call-in milestone! One lucky viewer will get to call me, before I leave the underground forever!'

'Ring...'

'Hi! You're on TV! What do you have to say to this, our final show?' Mettaton asked.

'oohhh....' The face was vaguely familiar. 'hi... Mettaton.... I.... I liked watching your show.... my life has been.... pretty bad.... but seeing you up on the screen.... brought excitement to my life... vicariously.'

'That's Napstablook!' Aurora gasped gleefully. Mettaton looked sad, almost to the verge of tears.

'thank you.... mettaton... ohh.... I didn't mean to talk so long.... ohhh.... bye...'

'Wait no! Bl-' Mettaton stopped himself. 'He- They already hung up.' He sniffed. 'Well! I'll take another caller then!'

'Ring... Ring... Ring...' Several people called in at once.

'Mettaton! Your show made us so happy!'

'Mettaton! I don't know what I'd do without you!'

'Mettaton! There's a Mettaton-shaped hole in my Mettaton-shaped heart.'

'Oh my... Everyone... Thank you.. so much.' He hung up and looked up at the humans. 'It seems, it would be better if I stay here a- while...' He coughed. His words were staticy, and he kept bugging out. 'After all, humans already have their- cough – stars and idols... But monsters....' He sighed. 'They only have me. If I left, the underground would lose its spark. I'd leave an aching void that could never be filled.' His speech kept breaking up. 'So- oof- I think I'll have to delay my big debut. After all, you've all proven to be very strong. Perhaps, strong enough to get past Asgore.' Chara shuddered. 'I'm sure y'all will be able to protect humanity. It's probably for the best anyway. This form's energy consumption is... inefficient.' He coughed again. 'In a few moments, I'll run out of battery power and... well... I'll be alright. Knock 'em dead, darlings! And everyone, thank you. You've been a great audience!'  
'Neeow.' Mettaton shut down. Behind them, the doors opened.

'I-I f-f-finally g-got pa-past th-the door! A-are y'all alright? D-Did he-' Alphys stopped suddenly, seeing a very broken Mettaton lying on the ground. 'Oh my God. Mettaton are you-' She ran over and knelt down in front of him, holding an arm in her hands. 'Oh thank God. It's just the batteries.' She turned to the children. 'I-If M-Mettaton w-were g-g-gone, I think I m-might...' She trailed off. 'W-well e-enough of that! Y'all g-go on ahead... um... I-i'll j-just u-um... w-well...' She burst into tears. 'I DON'T WANT YOU TO GO!'

'There there hon. We'll always be in your heart.' Fiona hugged the sobbing dinosaur.

'I-I'm s-sorry f-for w-what I did...'

'Apology accepted. You were only trying to help youself out. I think we all would have done the same thing.' She turned to Percy and Thomas. 'Right boys?'

'Um... yeah. I gues...' Percy admitted, rubbing his elbow.

'We should probably go now.' Cody said, lightly touching Fiona's arm.

'O-okay. W-well... i-it w-w-was n-nice meeting y'all...' Alphys wiped a tear away from her eye and let go of Fiona.

'It was lovely meeting you!' Fiona said.

'Thank you all, so much.'

'Give Undyne our love, will you?' Fiona rested a hand on Alphys' shoulder. 'And go talk to her. I know she likes you.'

'I ca-' She stopped. 'Ok. I'll t-try.'

'Goodbye Alphys.' They all waved as they left the room, via the door behind Mettaton, which was now open.

As they walked towards the elevator, Chara sat back, nervous.

'What's wrong, Chara?' Aurora asked.

'There's something... I need to tell you.'

'Tell us in the elevator love.' Fiona said, opening the doors to the elevator and stepping in.

'STOP!'

They all stopped suddenly and turned to face the ghost, who was shaking.

'I can't do this anymore. I need to tell you something.' They sighed. 'It doesn't just take the power of one human SOUL to walk through the barrier. That is, one per person. It takes at least a human SOUL, and a monster SOUL.'

'You mean-'

'If you want to go home, you'll have to take his SOUL. You'll have to kill Asgore.' They walked into the elevator. They pressed the button and walked out. The others were already inside the elevator. 'I can't do this. I'm sorry.'

'CHARA WAIT-' Fiona shrieked, but it was too late.

The doors shut, leaving Chara behind.


	25. Undertale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The tale of the Underground is revealed. Fiona is forced to reveal the secret Chara had swore her to keep back in the Ruins. As the threat of ASGORE looms closer, is he really as nice as everyone says, or is he an angry, horrible murderer like Toriel makes him out to be?

'What are we going to do?' Cissy asked.

'We can't just kill a man.' Fiona shuddered.

'Let alone The King of the Underground.' Thomas added.

'I miss Chara.' Aurora sobbed.

'Guys, guys, guys!' Percy shouted. 'We've worked so hard to get this far, we can't just give up now! We have to get home to our parents!'

Everyone went dead silent. The hum of the rising elevator was defeaning by comparison. Nobody dared look at each other. Finally, Thomas spoke.

'I don't think our freedom and our parents are worth Asgore's life, Percy.' He whispered. 'I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do.'

'Well, there is something...' Cody smirked.

'What now, genius?' Cissy yelled. 'I don't think there's anything that could help us now! Much less you and your stupid plans!' She burst into tears.

'Hey hey hey, it's gonna be okay, sis!' Cody hugged her. 'Remember what Papyrus, Undyne, and well literally everyone else in the underground said?' He smiled. 'Asgore is nice, fuzzy pushover! Maybe he will just let us go home!'

'Cody, that's very sweet, but you have to understand-' Fiona fought back tears. 'We can't just go home. It's not like Asgore won't let us go home, on the contrary I think he would let us go, despite the war. But the point is, it's physically impossible for us to go. Our SOULs alone are too weak.'

'One of us will have to kill him in order to go home.' Thomas tilted his hat over his eyes, trying to hide the tears.

'Oh. S-sorry... I w-was only trying to h-help...' Cody sank down the wall and sat on the eleavtor floor, hugging his knees.

'Look. You all need to face the facts. I know it's hard, in fact it sounds terrible, but in order to go home, we have to kill him. And we need to start preparing for that now.' Percy said.  
Everyone went silent again. Thomas took a deep, shaky breath.

'So. You're the boss, how do we do this?' Thomas asked.

'I...' Percy stopped. 'I don't know...' He wiped his glasses. He started crying. 'I never wanted this! I'm just trying to make sense out of the chaos! Why did we have to climb that stupid mountain? Why didn't I listen to my dad? Why did I ever trust you guys?!' He sank. 'Why am I so alone?'

'You're not alone. You'll always have us. Come here, squirt.' Thomas pulled him into a tight hug. 'It's going to be okay buddy. We just have to get through this. Prepare ourselves, right? Strive through. Persevere.'

'I think we all need a hug.' Fiona said. Everyone walked over to Percy and Thomas squeezed each other tight. Tears rolled down each of their cheeks.

'Thank you. This is nice.' Cissy whispered.

'Ding!' The elevator doors opened. The children all let go of each other and stepped out. The capital seemed to have a dull grey colour palette. The grey-brick walls that lined along the path seemed to be void of all happiness.

'These bricks are like the bricks back in the Ruins!' Cody noted.

'Except... well... there's... more of them... and you can see the rest of the capital over the walls.' Cissy added.

'If they just put a little more colour here, this could be a really beautiful place.' Fiona sighed.

Frisk ran their hand along the wall, trying to distract themself from the task ahead.  
They walked along a narrow path alone rows of turrets. They had reached the castle, and were now headed towards a house.

'Is that...' Aurora started. 'Asgore's house? It looks just like Toriel's!'

Fiona stepped in through the open front door and looked around. 'Chara was right. This is just like Toriel's house. It's exactly the same, except... different.'

'It's cold.' Cody shivered.

'There are golden flowers everywhere.' Thomas pointed at all the vases, which bore golden flowers similar to Flowey.

'Speaking of which... I haven't seen that flower in a while...' Percy said. 'Who is he, anyway?' He looked at Fiona. 'I know Chara talked to you back at Toriel's house. Is there something you're hiding from us?'

Fiona sighed. 'Follow me children.' She jiggled at the chain which blocked off the path down the stairs. 'Howdy!' She read the note attached. 'I'm in the garden. Come by to talk if you need. The keys are in the kitchen and the hallway.'

'Okay then. Let's go. Lead the way, Fi.' Thomas said.

'You were saying...?' Percy prompted.

Fiona sighed again. 'Let me tell you a story. A long time ago... a human fell into the Ruins...'  
'Injured by it's fall... the human called out for help. Asriel, the King's son, heard the human's call. He brought the human back to the castle.'

'Over time, Asriel and the human became like siblings. The King and Queen treated the human child as their own. The underground was full of hope.'

The children unlocked the chain and walked downstairs.

'Then... One day... The human became very ill.'

'The sick human had only one request. To see the flowers from their village. But there was nothing the monsters could do.'

'The next day...' She took a long and shaky breath. 'The next day...The human died.'

'Asriel, wracked with grief. Absorbed the human's SOUL. He transformed into a being with incredible power.'

'With the human SOUL, Asriel crossed the barrier. He carried the human's body into the sunset. Back to the village of the humans.'

'Asriel reached the centre of the village. There, he found a bed of golden flowers. He carried the human onto it.'

'Suddenly, screams rang out. The villagers saw Asriel holding the human's body. They thought he had killed the child.'

'The humans attacked him everything they had. He was struck with blow after blow. Asriel had the power to destroy them all.'  
'But... Asriel did not fight back. Clutching the human... Asriel smiled, and walked away.'  
'Wounded, Asriel stumbled home. He entered the castle and collapsed. His dust spread across the garden.'

'The kingdom fell into despair. The king and queen had lost two children in one night. Once again the humans had taken everything from the monsters.'

'The king decided it was time to end the monsters' suffering. Every human who falls down here must die. With enough SOULs, they can shatter the barrier forever.'

'It's not long now. King Asgore will kill us all. We need to prepare ourselves for this.' Fiona finished. As they walked, they approached a long corridor lined with pillars and stain-glass windows. The windows were painted with the delta rune. The sun shone through the windows. In the distance, a clocktower struck three.

'Bong! Bong! Bong!'

A familiar silhoutte stood, blocking the path. He held up his hand to shush the children before they could speak. He spoke in a low, serious voice.

'So you finally made it. The end of your journey is at hand. In a few moments, you will meet the king. Together you will determine the fate of this world. That's then. Now. Now you will be judged. You will be judged for your every action. You will be judged for every EXP you've earned.'

'What's EXP?' Cody asked.

'It's an acronym.' The figure answered. 'It stands for “execution points”. A way of quantifying the pain you have inflicted on others. When you kill someone, your EXP increases. When you have enough EXP, your LOVE increases.'

The children shuddered at the mention of LOVE. Flowey's laugh was etched into their minds.

'LOVE, too, is an acronym. It stands for “Level of Violence.” A way of measuring someone's capacity to hurt. The more you kill, the more you distance yourself. The more you distance yourself, the less you will hurt. The more easily you can bring yourself to hurt others.' He stopped. He stepped into view.

'But you.' Sans said. 'You didn't kill anyone. Of course, that doesn't mean you're completely innocent or naive, just that you kept a certain tenderness in your heart. No matter the struggles or hardships you faced, you strived to do the right thing. Even when you ran away, you did it with a smile. Now, you're about to face the greatest challenge of your entire journey. If you refuse to fight, Asgore will take your SOULs and destroy humanity. If you kill Asgore and go home, monsters will remain trapped underground. What will you do?' He sighed. 'Well, if it were me, I would have thrown in the towel by now. But you. You're different. You have something called “determination.”

Frisk beamed.

'No matter what choice you make, or don't make, we're with you all the way.' He smiled. 'I'm rooting for you, kids.' He stepped back into the shadows and vanished.

The children all walked along the corridor, dead silent. They walked through the doorway and up the stairs. A sign outside a door read, 'Throne Room.' Dead leaves were scattered around the entrance.

'Are you ready for this?' Fiona asked.

'No.' Everyone said. Frisk shook their head, crying.

'Me neither.' Fiona inhaled deeply, then exhaled. She walked into the throne room. The others were in tow.

'Hum dee dum...' A deep voice called. He was standing over a field of golden flowers, a watering can in his hand. He was tall, very tall. He wore a long purple cloak attached to golden shoulder guards. He had long blonde hair and a thick beard. But most importantly, he had white fur and horns sticking out of his head. 'Hmm?' He raised his head. 'Who's there? Hold on- I'm almost done watering his flowers.' He set the watering can down on the ground next to him. 'There!' He turned to face the humans. 'Now what can I do for-' He froze. His eyes went wide as he saw the children. They all stared back at him curiously. 'Oh.' He turned back around, unable to look at the children. 'Um... Howdy! I'm Asgore.' He spoke very slowly, as if he were a child reading from a new book. 'I so badly want to say, “Would you like a cup of tea?” But... you know how it is.'

The children looked sadly at the king. He walked over to the stain-glass windows. The sun shone through from the surface onto his bed of golden flowers.

'Nice day out, isn't it? Birds are singing, flowers are blooming...' He sighed. 'Perfect weather for a game of catch.' He turned to face the children. 'You know what we must do. When you are ready, come into the next room.' He turned, and walked out.

The humans all walked around. Fiona and Percy's bare feet tickled on the flowers. Thomas sat down on Asgore's large throne and put his head into his hands.

'He's as nice as everyone says he is.' Fiona sighed. 

'I saw a sweater in his drawer that said: “Mr. Dad Guy.” ' Cissy said.

'Macaroni art for: “King Dad.” ' Cody nodded. The children all sighed. In the corner, a slightly smaller throne sat, covered by a dusty, white sheet.

'I'm not ready for this.' Aurora sobbed. She turned, and saw Frisk gripping her hand tightly. They smiled at the youngest child. 'Thank you, Frisk. You're a good friend.'

'In some ways I'm glad we came here.' Thomas said. 'Look at all the great friends we made! But do any of us really deserve this fate? This choice?'

'No, we don't.' Fiona replied. 'And that, unfortunately, is the cruel injustice of it all.'

'We have to keep moving. The longer we wait, the harder it'll be.' Percy called to the others, standing by the doorway where Asgore had left through. The children all got up and walked forward. Asgore was waiting for them.

'How tense...' He mumbled, trying to calm the situation. 'Just think of it like a trip to the dentist.' He smiled, failing to reassure the children. He walked down the hallway to an exit. 'If you are not ready for this, then I understand. I am not ready either.' His mouth twitched, and his eyes were welling up. He shook his head and walked through the archway.

'This is it.' Fiona whispered. 'The End.'


	26. Bergentrückung

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asgore stands guard! The lonely king cannot seem to keep to the promises he made his people. Can the humans use this to their advantage? Does no-one have to die? How will the children get home? Meanwhile, a long-forgotten villain makes a disturbing return...

'This... is the barrier.' Asgore whispered. 'This is what keeps us all trapped underground.'  
The barrier hummed loudly. Light seemed to refract in and out, leaving a shimmer. The outside was dim, and it was hard to make out the environment outside on the surface. 'If... by any means... you have anything important left to do... please... do what you must... I will wait here.'

The children stopped, and thought about all of the happy times they had in the underground.

'Remember when Mettaton came out on stage wearing a dress? And sang about how the king was going to kill us? Before preceeding to try and kill us himself?' Fiona laughed.

'Yeah! And remember when Undyne burned her house down when we cooked with her?' Thomas lauged too, and soon the others joined in.

'What about that awful date with Papyrus?' Cissy giggled, tears of joy streaming down her face.

'Oh my gosh yes!' Cody laughed. 'Just spaghetti everywhere!' He rolled around on the floor, clutching his sides.

'Sans and his awful puns.' Percy chuckled, shaking his head.

'Toriel's delicious pie.' Aurora whispered sadly.

The children all stopped laughing and smiled. Asgore, with his back to the children, started shaking slightly. A single tear rolled down his fur and onto the floor. He shook himself out of it. 'Ready?'

'Sorry. Yes Asgore. Thank you.' Fiona turned to look at the giant goat monster.

'Then, this is it.' He turned to face the children. Seven empty capsules, presumably to hold SOULs, shot out from the ground. The children's journey was almost over. Twilight was shining through the barrier. The children's SOULs glowed brightly in their chests. They were filled with... determination.  
'Humans... It was nice to meet y'all... goodbye.' Asgore pulled out a large red trident from underneath his cloak. He speared all of the children, one by one. 'I will not accept your mercy!'

All the children's SOULs began to change colour. The final colour, the one that had not been present in the underground.

'Red...' They all whispered.

'We will not fight you, Asgore!' Cissy cried.  
Asgore twitched, but said nothing. He sent fireballs after fireballs at the children. The children ran around, trying to dodge the massive torrent of heat. They all got singed, but not badly burned.

'Cease this battle, Asgore! For we will not strike you down!' Fiona shouted.

Asgore shook his head, trying to block out the children's cries. He swung his trident at the children, to which they all jumped to avoid. Percy was struck, and he slammed against the barrier.

'No!' Thomas cried, but held his ground. 'You are worthy of mercy. And so are we. Stop fighting us, Asgore.'

Asgore dropped his trident. He seemed weaker. He quickly picked it back up and slamming it on the ground, screamed, 'SILENCE!' A massive wave of fire enclosed all the children, and the children had to duck and jump out to avoid it. Fiona's hair caught fire in the process. She quickly jumped to the ground and rolled around. She jumped back up. 'No more words from you.' Asgore growled. 'Now fight me! Kill me! I do not deserve your mercy, and you do not deserve mine, human sc-' He coughed. 'Human scum!' His eyes glowed angrily. The fireballs reflected in his cold pupils.

The children all dodged them, beginning to recognise his pattern of fighting. They all formed a circle around him, enclosing in on him. Percy stood behind him, having recovered from the blow. Asgore snarled. He stood up straight and closed his eyes. As he opened them, they flashed different colours.  
'Blue! Orange! Blue!' Cissy cried.

Asgore opened his eyes again and swung his trident around at the children. He swung one way, blue. He swung the other way, orange. He swung back again, blue. The children all moved accordingly to the magical colours of the underground.

'Attack me!' He looked at Frisk, and saw that they were wearing a heart shaped locket, identical to Chara's. 'You!' He pointed his trident at the mute, who quaked slightly. 'O thou most determined one! Fight me, or I will take your SOUL and murder humankind!'

Frisk's eyes flashed angrily. They took the worn dagger from their pocket – which they had gotten from Asgore's house, along with the locket – and swung at the king. The knife went straight through his chestplate into his abdomen. They pulled the knife straight back out.

'That's the spirit!' Asgore beamed. 'You must all fight me! No mercy! I will continue fighting you until I die or I defeat you!' His voice lowered. 'Even it means standing here 'til the end of time.'

The children all pulled out their weapons. This was the final battle. Aurora's swiss army knife, Cody's gloves, Cissy's ballet shoes, Percy's letter opener, Thomas' gun, and Fiona's pan. The children all struck him with blow after blow. Asgore was getting weaker and weaker.

'ENOUGH!' He cried. He smashed his trident against the ground. The children were all sent sprawling backwards as a torrent of fire blew from his trident in all directions. 'You have done well children, but you will never defeat me! I will take your SOULs! I will destroy humanity! I will prevail!' He continued his attacks, and the children found it more difficult to avoid them.

'Please stop, Asgore!' Fiona cried, clutching her bleeding left side. 'You have done enough!'

'What would Toriel think? Seeing you now?!' Thomas screamed, firing his gun into Asgore's chest.

'IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT SHE THINKS!' Asgore shrieked, striking Thomas across the face with his trident, sending him flailing to the ground. 'SHE'S GONE! THERE'S NOTHING LEFT FOR ME NOW! NOTHING EXCEPT THE FREEDOM FOR MY PEOPLE! YOU WILL PERISH HERE HUM-' He stopped suddenly. He fell to his knees, mortally wounded.

Frisk had stabbed him.

'Ah. So that is how it is.' He reached into his cloak, and pulled out a music box. He turned it on, and Memory started playing. 'I remember the day after my son died. The entire underground was devoid of hope. The future had once again been taken from us by the humans.' He coughed, dust was trickling down his body. 'In a fit of anger, I declared war. I proclaimed that I would destroy every human who came here. I would use their SOULs to become godlike and free us from this terrible prison. Then I would destroy humanity, and let monsters rule the surface in peace. Soon, the people's hopes returned. My wife, however, became disgusted with my actions, she left this place, never to be seen again.' He started to cry. 'Heh. Truthfully... I do not want power. I don't want to hurt anyone. I just wanted everyone to have hope.' He looked at Frisk. 'But I cannot take this any longer. I just want to see my wife again. I want to see my child. Please, young one, this war has gone on long enough. You have the powr. Take my SOUL, and leave this cursed place.'

Frisk hesitated. They dropped the knife and fell to the ground. The other children all came over and hugged Asgore.

'You mean- After everything I have done to hurt you, you would all rather stay down here and suffer, than live happily on the surface?' Asgore laughed. 'Well then. I promise you all, for as long as you remain here, My wife and I will take care of you as best we can. We can sit in the living room, telling stories, eating butterscotch pie. We could be like... like a family.'

'AGH!' Asgore and the humans all cried. Their SOULs were struck directly by some unknown force. Frisk stood up and tried to yell, but no sound come out. Asgore's body disappated into dust. Only his SOUL remained. A single friendliness pellet rose up from the ground. It struck the SOUL. It shattered. Asgore was gone. The children all collapsed to the ground. Their bodies were bleeding out. Their weak SOULs emanated from their chests. The SOULs disappeared, absorbed into the ground.

'YOU. IDIOT.' Flowey rose from the ground. 'YOU HAVEN'T LEARNED A THING. IN THIS WORLD...'

Everything went white, Frisk could feel their grip on reality slipping.

'I T ' S K I L L O R B E K I L L E D.'


	27. Your Best Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's my world now.

Frisk awoke. They were surrounded in pitch black. They couldn't feel their legs. They couldn't feel their face. They couldn't feel their breath. They couldn't feel anything. Except fear. For some reason, Frisk couldn't work out why they were so afraid, but they knew it was for a good reason. Suddenly, a floating, glowing, yellow star appeared in the distance. Frisk ran towards it, but it was getting further and further away. Frisk trusted it for some reason. It meant something. Finally they reached it.

'Ding!' Frisk touched the star. It disappeared. A little sign popped up.

'My world.'

'Pow!' Frisk was struck suddenly in the chest. 'Pow!' They were struck again. 'POW!' Frisk was thrown across the room and skidded along the floor. They struggled to get up. Blood was dripping out their mouth and down their face. They screamed and clutched their chest. A rib was sticking out of their chest, spurting blood everywhere. Suddenly, a familiar, evil face popped up.

'Howdy!' Flowey laughed. 'It's me, Flowey. Flowey the flower.' He chuckled menacingly. 'I owe you a huge thanks. You really did a number on the old fool. Without your help, I never would have gotten past him! But now, with your help, he's DEAD.' Flowey's face morphed into a monstrous version of Asgore's, with no pupils and dust pouring out his sockets. 'And I've got your friends' SOULs! AHAHAHAH!' His body heaved, and seemed to be growing larger, 'Boy! I've been empty for so long, it feels great to have a SOUL inside me again! Mmmm... I can feel them wriggling.'

The pain, of their chest and losing their friends, was so unbearable that Frisk burst into tears.

'Awww, you're feeling left out aren't you? Well that's just perfect! After all, thanks to you, I only have 6 SOULs, I still need one more...' He laughed hysterically. 'BEFORE I BECOME GOD! And then, with my newfound powers....' Flowey's face cycled through different forms. 'Monsters...' He took the form of Toriel. 'Humans...' He took the form of Frisk's. 'EVERYONE! I'M SHOW THEM ALL THE REAL MEANING OF THIS WORLD!' He laughed. 'Oh, and forget about using your determination to go back.'

Frisk looked shocked.

'Oh don't act like you don't know. I know all your little tricks, human!' He remarked snarkily. 'THERE'S NO GOING BACK NOW!' He inhaled and twitched. 'But don't worry! Your old friend Flowey, has worked out a replacement for you!' His face contorted, his eyes grew dark and soulless, and his teeth grew long and sharp. 'I'll save and reload your own death! So you can watch me tear you to bloody pieces over, and over, and over!'  
Frisk coughed, and stepped forward towards the flower, which know stood over them.  
'What? Do you really think you can stop me?!' He laughed, more evilly, more insanely, more horrifyingly than before. 'You really are an idiot.'

Frisk's SOUL glowed intently. They were filled with determination. Suddenly, Flowey disappeared, and 6 human SOULs appeared instead.

Cyan, Orange, Blue, Purple, Green, Yellow. The SOULs were dim and weak. Flowey had damaged them when he stole them from Frisk's friends.

Suddenly, the black room flashed red. A huge monstrosity appeared before Frisk. It had giant thorns for claws, a pair of giant, spiky green arms protruding from his heaving body. Hundreds of pipes extended out from nowhere attached to his back, pumping determination from the SOULs directly into his vessel. He had 4 eyes, 2 of which seemed to pasted sideways onto his lopsided face. He had two sets of giant human-looking teeth and two oversized nostrils. But his most horrible feature was his large television-shaped head. On the screen a pair of glowing, red eyes flashed, illuminating Frisk, staring them down. The pain in Frisk's chest ebbed away slightly. Adrenaline pumped through their veins. Omega Flowey drew to his maximum height, towering over Frisk. He stared down at the tiny human, and screamed.

'URAH HA HA HEE HEE HEE HEE HA HA HA, HA HA HA HA HA!'

Giant white pellets shot out from his body towards Frisk. Frisk, limping, barely managed to dodge them. Their chest was still bleeding out. They could barely move. They could not withstand this much longer. They were dying. They would not survive.

'DIE, HUMAN!'

Flowey was sending torrents of attacks towards Frisk. The power of the SOULs was too much for Frisk to counter. On the TV screen, projections of the faces of Frisks' friends appeared, screaming.

'Your friends are gone. And it's all your fault!'  
Giant vines sprouted out from Flowey's arms and impaled Frisk.

'Crack! SMASH!' Frisk's SOUL shattered. The world went dark. They were slipping... further... further.... further...

*

Frisk awoke. They were surrounded in pitch black. They couldn't feel their legs. They couldn't feel their face. They couldn't feel their breath. They couldn't feel anything. Except fear. For some reason, Frisk couldn't work out why they were so afraid, but they knew it was for a good reason. Suddenly, a floating, glowing, yellow star appeared in the distance. Frisk ran towards it, but it was getting further and further away. Frisk trusted it for some reason. It meant something. Finally they reached it.

'Hee hee hee.' Flowey's disembodied voice whispered into the darkness. 'Did you think I would only be satisfied, killing you only time?' He laughed and he reared his monstrous form again.

Frisk's ribs were now healed, and they could predict and dodge the attacks easier this time. Suddenly, from out of his mouth a giant blue laser shot straight at Frisk's face. They were propelled backwards and hit the barrier, sliding down it. They touched their face. They recoiled their hand from the burn. Their entire face was singed. Their bloodied cheek was now cauterised. On the TV screen, an alarm was sounding and 'WARNING!' flashed in bright yellow letters. A cyan SOUL was present on the screen.

'Aurora...' Frisk thought.

Flowey disappeared, and instead a floating Aurora stood in place. Her entire body was a dull grey, and her eyes completely white with no pupils. Her eyes lacked any sense of life and compassion. Her cyan SOUL glew brightly. She looked up at Frisk, and threw giant white swiss army knives at Frisk. Frisk ducked underneath them. A grid of knives formed, and Frisk had to walk their way around them. A spinning button with the word 'ACT' written on it flashed in the distance. Frisk jumped up and hit it.

'Help me.' They thought, cursing the fact that they couldn't speak.

The knives instantly disappeared, along with Aurora. A floating orange SOUL stood in its place. It sent out green plasters straight towards Frisk, and healed their wounds. Suddenly everything disappeared in a flash of static, and Flowey came back into view.

'This battle between us will never end!'  
Flowey kept sending attack after attack after attack. Frisk kept dying and dying and dying. After each death they came back, stronger than before. Flowey scowled, and sent out another SOUL.

'WARNING!' The TV flashed, with a floating orange SOUL in place.

Flowey disappeared again, and Cody took his place. He was exactly like Aurora. A dull, colourless body and soulless eyes. His orange SOUL glow intently in his chest. He sent giant white hands towards Frisk. Frisk kept trying to dodge them. Frisk reached the glowing 'ACT' button and hit it again. Instantly, Cody and his attacks disappeared, and were replaced by a glowing blue SOUL and green thumbs up which healed Frisk's wounds.

Flowey returned, and Frisk's body was thrown around the room. Flowey picked them up and stretched out their entire body. Frisk's spine snapped, killing them.

*

Frisk awoke. They were surrounded in pitch black. They couldn't feel their legs. They couldn't feel their face. They couldn't feel their breath. They couldn't feel anything. Except fear. For some reason, Frisk couldn't work out why they were so afraid, but they knew it was for a good reason. Suddenly, a floating, glowing, yellow star appeared in the distance. Frisk ran towards it, but it was getting further and further away. Frisk trusted it for some reason. It meant something. Finally they reached it.

'You idiot. Don't you even realise what will happen if you win?'

Immediately the TV flashed again. Flowey disappeared, and Cissy floated in his place. Just like her brother, her eyes lacked any sense of charm that they once had, and any sense of colour had vanished from her body. Her blue SOUL glew intensly in her chest. Frisk was slammed against the barrier, blocked by stars. Giant, white ballet shoes came down and smashed next to Frisk. One struck them right in the chest and Frisk cried out. The 'ACT' button smashed down next to them and Frisk pressed it again. Immediately, Cissy and her attacks disappeared, and a purple SOUL sent out green music notes which Frisk used to heal themselves.  
Flowey returned, and the attacks only grew harder and harder to avoid. With each strike of the pellets, with each burn from the flamethrowers, Frisk could feel their grip on reality slipping on further. Just when Frisk was about to collapse, the TV flashed again.  
Percy stood. His long matted hair flew behind him and had lost that blond glow. Frisk was wedged inside the pages of a giant notebook, and words were sent flying their way. 'Death', 'Pain', 'Suffering', 'Destroy'. Frisk covered their ears. The torture was too much. Finally, the 'ACT' button flashed, and Frisk ran to press it. Once again, the prepertrator disappeared, and a green SOUL floated in his place. Words such as, 'Kindness', 'Life', 'Prosperity', and 'Create' floated towards Frisk, encouraging them and healing their wounds.

Flowey was becoming more and more frustrated and agitated. His attacks became more violent and volatile. He was also becoming sloppier and weaker. Frisk found it easier to dodge his attacks. Flowey screamed, and the TV flashed again.

Fiona floated in place. Her once light brown skin now shone a dull grey. She summoned three large white frying pans. They tossed balls of fire towards Frisk from all directions. They kept getting burnt. Finally, the middle pan tossed an 'ACT' button which Frisk pressed. Fiona disappeared. A yellow SOUL stood in place and the fireballs were replaced by green eggs which healed Frisk's burns.  
Flowey shrieked a deep, low-pitched wail. He threw Frisk against the barrier again and shot his laser towards them. Frisk ducked underneath the blast and swiped with their knife at one of Flowey's arms. It nicked him and dust poured from the slight cut.

'NGAH!' Flowey cried. 'Enough of this!'

'WARNING!' A yellow SOUL flashed on the TV screen. The final SOUL.

Thomas floated up and down on the spot. His once-brown attire had changed to grey, and his hat was lopsided. He summoned a giant revolver which shot giant rubber bullets at random. Frisk kept getting hit, and they stung more and more. Frisk's face puffed up from the blast. The gun shot out an 'ACT' button. The final one. Frisk pressed it. Thomas disappeared, and a cyan SOUL floated instead, and the gun shot out green healing clovers.

Suddenly, from the TV screen, all six SOULs floated down towards Frisk. They sent more healing items towards the fallen human, making them stronger. The SOULs seemed to sing.

'Hear as we reign as we sing again we'll write a new symphony! Lost in the silence, used in his violence we'll keep you company.'

Flowey returned. His defense was down to 0. His attacks were slow and ineffective. Frisk struck him with blow after blow.

'He lost his way long ago.' The girls sang.

'We'll punish him even so!' The boys sang.

'What is this?! You broke from my hold? Impossible! I'll gain back control!' Flowey panicked.

'FIGHT WITH DETERMINATION!' Cody screamed.

Frisk smiled. Their knife gleamed with the reflection of the barrier. Flowey's attacks got more difficult to dodge, but the SOULs healed every wound Flowey inflicted.

'Flowey! Stop this madness!' Fiona cried.

'If you don't you'll end up falling down!' Aurora squealed.

'Flowey! Stop this rampage!' Thomas screamed.

'We will fight you! Now it's time to stand down!' Percy sang.

'Flowey! You can't win this!' Cissy shouted.

'Show your courage here! We'll forgive!' Cody yelled.

'Now dance to our puppet strings!' Frisk thought and grinned. The knife was dripping with dust. It was almost over.

'Boom!' Flowey's health went down to zero. In one final attempt at victory, Flowey summoned his friendliness pellets and surrounded Frisk. The SOULs vanished.

'Did you really think you could defeat me? I am the GOD OF THIS WORLD YOU HEAR ME?' Flowey laughed. 'And you? You're hopeless. Hopeless and alone. Go on, cry out into the darkness. “Mommy, daddy! Somebody help!” See what good it does you!'

Frisk collapsed onto the floor.

'Hee hee hee! But nobody came. Boy! What a shame! Nobody else...' Flowey laughed. 'IS GONNA GET TO SEE YOU DIE!'

The pellets closed in. Frisk was defeated.

'Ping!' The pellets disappeared, an inch from Frisk's body.

'Wha-' Flowey was confused. 'How'd you-? Well, I'll just-' Flowey froze. 'What? Where are my powers?'

The SOULs appeared by Frisk's side, surrounding the giant beast.

'The SOULs? What are they doing?'

The SOULs encircled the flower, draining him from all power.

'No! Y-you can't do that! You're supposed to obey me! Stop! Stop it! SSTTTOOOOPPPP!'  
The SOULs and the monstrosity disappeared.

Flowey reappeared in his normal form. His flowery body was scratched up and dust poured from several cuts in his body.

'Heh. It's no use now. Kill me.'

Frisk threw down the knife.

'Sparing me won't change anything. Killing me is the only way to end this.'

Frisk shook their head.

'What are you? Stupid?! KILL ME!'

Frisk refused.

'If you let me go...' Flowey laughed. 'I'll come back.'

Frisk stared down at the tiny flower.

'I'll kill you. I'll kill everyone you love.'

Frisk bent down and hugged Flowey.

'Wh-wha? Why are you being...' Flowey sobbed. 'So... nice to me?'

Frisk squeezed.

'I don't understand. I can't understand. I just can't understand...' Flowey ran away.

Frisk picked up the knife, and walked through the barrier.

*

'YOU DID IT!' Cody yelled, and ran over to Frisk.

Frisk nodded and smiled.

'I knew we could count on you.' Thomas winked.

'I'm so sorry for whatever we did to you, Frisk.' Cissy sobbed and hugged them.

'I'm so sorry for whatever you had to experience. That must have been traumatic.' Fiona added.

'Come on!' Aurora grabbed Frisk's hand. 'Let's go home!'

Percy sighed. 'I hope the monsters are gonna be okay. They no longer have a king, and it's all our fault. Not to mention how much I miss Chara.'

Frisk stopped suddenly.

'Frisk? Are you alright?' Fiona turned around.  
'I... have to go back...' Frisk mumbled. They took the knife from their pocket. They pressed the point to their chest. They stabbed themself.

'FRISK!' Fiona cried, and ran over. 'Frisk! What are you doing?! Are you alright?! Speak to me!'

'Don't just stand there you idiots!' Thomas growled at the others. 'DO SOMETHING!'

Frisk put their hand on Fiona's cheek and smiled.

'FRISK! NO! DON'T DO THIS!' Cissy ran over and started applying pressure to the stab wound.

Cody stood there, dumbfounded. He didn't know what to do. Aurora burst into tears and wailed.

'Frisk, please. Don't do this. We had it. We were almost home.' Fiona whispered, tears streaming down her face.

Frisk smiled again, and let their hand drop from Fiona's face.

'Frisk...' Percy mumbled. He dropped to his knees. He beat the ground his fists as he cried.

'What do we do now, Fiona?' Thomas's face was absent of colour.

'I don't know.' Fiona whispered. She picked up Frisk's lifeless corpse and cradled it. 'I just don't know.'

'What's happening?' Cody shrieked. His dark brown skin was turning white. His hands were melting off and disappearing. The world was going white, vanishing around the children. The children all dropped to their knees. 'WHAT'S HAPPENING?!' He shrieked again. Everyone's bodies were vanishing, bit by bit. The world was becoming more obscure. Fiona smiled and looked down at Frisk's disappearing face.

'Determination...' Fiona whispered. She vanished, and the world went dark.


	28. Determination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> .syhplA pleH

'How tense...' Asgore mumbled, trying to calm the situation. 'Just think of it like a trip to the dentist.' He smiled, failing to reassure the children. He walked down the hallway to an exit. 'If you are not ready for this, then I understand. I am not ready either.' His mouth twitched, and his eyes were welling up. He shook his head and walked through the archway.

'This is it.' Fiona whispered. 'The End.'  
Frisk opened their eyes and blinked. They turned around and sprinted back down the archway they just walked through.

'Frisk?' Percy mumbled. 'Where are you going?'

'Oh for the love of-' Fiona growled. 'Come on! It looks like we gotta chase after them again.'

'We'll be back soon enough.' Thomas reassured Asgore.

'Take as much time as you need.' Asgore nodded.

Fiona sighed. 'I am going to strangle that child.'

'Where in the underground are they going?' Cissy frowned. 'It's not like we have anything else to do back there.'

'I don't know, but we gotta catch them fast.'  
Frisk sprinted past the elevator towards Asgore's house.

'If we take the elevator, we might be quicker!' Cody cried. 'It's a long walk, after all.'

'Let's go then.'

'Ding!' The elevator opened its doors and the children stepped in. The elevator descended down, and the doors opened just as Frisk ran down the path to the elevator to the CORE.

'Frisk! Stop!' Cissy shouted, but Frisk was having none of it. They opened the doors to the elevator and stepped in. They closed them just before Fiona could stop them.

'Great. Now we'll never catch them!' Thomas groaned, throwing his hands up in the air.

'Let's think:' Percy put his finger up in the air and took out his notebook. 'Is there something we've missed? Anything you think we might have needed doing?'

Everyone shook their heads.

'Crap.' Percy mumbled underneath their breath.

'Wait!' Aurora cried. 'We didn't see how Mettaton was doing!'

'Why would we care? He's the worst person in the entire underground!' Thomas yelled.

'Well, besides that flower of course.'

'Alphys cared about him. And you know what Frisk's like.' Fiona said. 'Good idea, Aurora. We'll go to Alphys' lab, and we'll see.'

'Ding!' The elevator doors opened.

'Thank God.' Cody whispered, who hated waiting.

'Ding!' Twenty seconds later, the doors opened at the top of the CORE. They walked through Mettaton's battle arena, which was now empty, and towards the elevator. Within seconds, the children had caught up Frisk at the entrance to the CORE.

Frisk pulled out their cellphone and showed them a message Undyne had sent them.

'Um... hey. I know this is a big favour to ask but could you deliver a letter for me please? I'm at Snowdin's in front of Papyrus'. Thanks! :)'

'Okay. Snowdin it is then.' Fiona sighed, dreading the imminent cold.

The children walked through the resort, down the stairs to Hotland and towards the elevator. They took the elevator down to L1 by Alphys' lab and walked down towards the riverperson.

'Snowdin? Well off we go.' The riverperson sang. 'Tra la la. I should have worn a few million more pairs of pants today. Tra la la.'  
The children looked at each other in confusion.

'Well, here he are. Come again some time.' The riverperson said as the children got off. 'Or don't, it really doesn't matter. Tra la la.'

'Thank you, Riverperson!' Aurora giggled.

The children walked over to Papyrus' house, where Undyne was standing outside, shivering and rubbing her bare arms.

'God Papyrus! How can you stand this cold?' She mumbled. 'I'm freezing.'

'I don't have any skin.' Papyrus winked.

'So why don't we go somewhere warm? Like Grillby's?'

'Because of all the grease.'

'But you don't have a stomach!'

'No, but I do have standards!' Papyrus turned and saw the children. 'Oh hello children! I believe Undyne has something for you.'

'Y-yeah.... um... could you um... deliver this letter... to um... Alphys for me please?' Undyne was sweating despite the cold.

'Why don't you do it yourself? It's not far.' Cody asked.

'Well... um... it's k-kinda p-personal... but um...' Undyne blushed. 'Y-you're my friend, so... I'll uh... tell you...' She coughed. 'Hotland SUUUUUUUUUUUCKS! I don't want to have to go over there! So here you go.' She said, handing the letter to Frisk.

'Well I don't blame you.' Cissy indicated to her mass of curly hair.

'Not to mention the armour issue.' Thomas said, shuddering at the memory.

'Anyway! Off you go! Oh and also, one more thing:' She bent her face down towards Frisk, who trembled slightly. 'If you read it, I'LL KILL YOU.' She laughed. 'Thanks so much! You're the best!' She waved as the children walked off. 'Fuck you I'm going to Grillby's by myself.' She mumbled to Papyrus as she walked off.

'Undyne, wait!' Papyrus ran after her.

The children took the riverperson back to Hotland and arrived at Alphys' lab.

'The door's locked, and it has no mail slot.' Percy sighed. 'Slide the letter under?'

Frisk nodded, and pressed the letter down hard, and squeezed it under neath the doorway and knocked at the door.

'O-oh n-no... i-is it another l-letter?' Alphys' small voice mumbled from the other side of the door. 'C-can I j-j-just s-slide it ba-back out?' She hesitated. 'No. I c-can't keep doing this. I'll r-read this one.' She tried to tear at the letter but to no avail. 'Oh i-it's s-shut k-k-kinda st-strongly, isn't it? Um... h-hold on-'

A saw roared from inside the lab.

'Oh my God...' Alphys whispered. She opened the door and looked down at the ground. 'If this is a joke it's not very fun-' She stopped when she saw the humans smiling happily at her. 'Oh! H-hi! Umm... w-well...' She looked down at Frisk standing at the door. 'D-Did y-y-you write this letter? I-it w-wasn't s-signed, so I just a-assumed um... anyway! Wow!'

The children tried to interject and stop her, but she wasn't paying any attention.

'I c-can't believe... a-after a-all t-the s-stuff I did... I d-don't r-really d-deserve t-to be f-forgiven... and um... so um... passionately too.'

Cissy giggled and Thomas and Fiona slapped their foreheads.

'Y-yeah! L-let's do it! It's the least I c-can d-do to make it up to you! Let's go on a date!'

'Oh no.' The children all collectively said.  
The lab door shut behind them, and Alphys ran back upstairs.

'H-hold on! I-i'm s-still g-getting d-dressed!' She came back downstairs, wearing a bright red dress with little sparkles on it.

'Wow!' Fiona breathed. 'You're so pretty!'

'R-really? D-Do you like it? My f-friend c-chose t-this d-dress, she has a great sense of um... Anyway! Let's do this thing!' She stopped again. 'Wait! No! We can't start the date yet! I need to give you some items to raise your affection level! That'll increase the outcome of a successful date, right?'

The children shrugged and nodded.

'Okay... hold on... let's see.. um... w-we have some metal armour polish...'

Cissy and Fiona looked at each other and giggled. Thomas and Percy rolled their eyes.

'Metal armour polish... hmm... M-maybe you can't use that! Ahehe...' Alphys giggled as she threw the jar behind her. 'Okay how about... um... some waterproof cream for your scales!'

Aurora giggled.

'Y-your... scales... um... perhaps you can't use that either!' She said throwing the container behind her. 'Okay... what about... um... a magical spear repair kit that I-' She sighed and dropped the box. 'Well maybe let's just skip that step. Let's do this thing!' She breathed in and out deeply. She twiddled her claws together and started to sweat. 'So.. um... do you like... um... anime?'

The children all looked at each other before answering.

'No I don't, sorry.' Fiona said.

'Nor do I.' Thomas shook his head.

'Anime is weird.' Cody whispered.

Aurora and Frisk looked at each other in confusion. Frisk shrugged.

'I do!' Cissy and Percy said at the same time, then looked at each other, embarrassed.

'Oh cool!' Alphys replied at Cissy and Percy. 'I do too.' She sweat again. 'Um... we should... go somewhere! But where's a good place to go on a date...' She thought for a minute. 'I KNOW! The garbage dump!'

'The garbage dump?' Cissy replied.

'Trust me, I've had worse.' Fiona said to Cissy.  
Within a few minutes, they were at the garbage dump.

'Yeah! T-this is w-where U-Undyne and I g-go all the time! It's a really cool place to uh...'

She froze. 'Oh my God. That's her over there!' She ran behind a rubbish bin. 'I can't let her see me with you!'

'Why not?'

'Well... uh... OH MY GOD HERE SHE COMES!' She ducked down and hid herself.

'Hey! I just realised, if you deliver that letter, it might be a bad thing. So I'll do it! Give it to me!' Undyne yelled. 

'W-we... we don't have it...' Cissy mumbled.

'WHAT?!' Undyne shrieked. 'Well have you at least seen her?' Behind the bin, Alphys was shaking.

The children looked at each other, and shook their heads.

'Really? But she wasn't at home... where could she be... Thanks! I'll keep looking.' She took off.

'Well t-that was c-close...' Alphys stammered, reappearing from behind the bin. 'Well I guess it's obvious now. I really like her. Undyne, I mean.'

'We know.' Fiona nodded.

'Y-yeah... Undyne's the person I really wanna go on a date with. B-but sh-she's w-way out of my l-league!' She stopped and looked at the children. 'N-not t-that y-y-you a-aren't c-cool! It's just...' She sighed. 'I don't know. I d-don't h-have the s-strength. I-I'm n-n-not br-brave enough. If s-she f-finds out a-all the t-t-terrible t-things I've d-done... She'll h-hate me.'

'No she won't! You have to tell her the truth! She really likes you too, trust me.' Fiona smiled.

'T-tell her t-the tr-truth?!' She shrieked. 'But I can't! Oh h-how c-c-can I p-practice.'

'Um... a roleplay?' Thomas suggested.

'Y-yeah! T-that sounds like a l-lot of f-fun!' She took a deep breath, preparing herself. 'Okay. Which of you w-will b-be Undyne?'

Fiona shoved Thomas forward and winked at him. He turned around and scowled at her. She stuck her tongue out at him. 'It's for you as well, dingus.'

'H-hi Undyne!' Alphys said. 'H-How a-are y-you t-today?'

'Psst!' Fiona whispered to Thomas. 'Say,“ You're cute!”

'What? No!' Thomas whispered back. 'Ugh fine.' He turned back to Alphys. 'You're cute.' He said. Everyone giggled.

'Oh! Well! U-um... T-thank y-you! Y-you a-always s-say t-t-that t-to me, b-because y-you're just b-being a n-nice f-friend...'

'Now say, “Can I kiss you?”' Cissy laughed.

'WHAT? NO I AM NOT DOING TH-' He stopped. 'Fine. Have it your way.' He turned back to Alphys. 'Hey Alphys, can I have a kiss?'

'WHAT?!' Alphys cried. 'Undyne would never-' She coughed and breathed in and out. 'Okay. I k-kiss h-her b-back softly. I look d-deep into h-her eyes.' She started screaming. 'I START HOLLERING, “OH KISS ME AGAIN UNDYNE OH PLEASE KISS ME-”'

'What did you just say?' Undyne came around the corner, her eyes wide open with shock.  
Fiona and Cissy looked at each other with their mouths wide open, trying not to laugh.

'Um.. h-hi U-Undyne... I uh...'

'Woah! Your outfit's really cute. What's the occasion?' She asked, peering at the sparkly dress.

'I.. uh...'

'Wait a second. Where you two...' She pointed to Thomas and Alphys. 'On a date?'

'What? No no no...' Alphys and Thomas said at the same time.

'I m-mean... yes? Well no? Well yes, but we were only... r-romantically r-roleplaying a-as y-you?' Alphys stammered.

'WHAT?!' Undyne cried, shocked but slightly flattered.

'I MEAN-' She sighed. 'Undyne, I've been lying to you.'

'WHAT?! ABOUT WHAT?!' She cried.

'About... well... everything!' She walked over to Undyne. 'Th-that one time I said I was busy with work, I was just eating frozen yoghurt in my PJ's by myself! Those history books, they aren't real! They're dorky comics and anime! When I s-said seaweed was scientifically important, that was wrong! I just put it in ice cream. That time I-'

'Alphys.' Undyne interrupted. 'Shhh... Shh...' Undyne bent down and hugged the small dinosaur.

'I just... I really think you're neat, okay!' She sobbed.

'Shh...' Undyne soothed. Suddenly, she picked up Alphys, and threw her into the large rubbish bun. 'STOP!' She shouted. 'I... I think you're really neat too. But you gotta understand, I don't want you to have to lie to me. You don't have to lie to anyone anymore. Alphys, I'm going to help you become the better person you are!'

Alphys poked her head up from the rubbish bin. 'You mean...' She blushed. 'You're going to train me?'

'Nope!'

'Wait, what?' Fiona asked.

'I'm gonna get Papyrus to do it instead.'

Papyrus jumped out from behind a pile of trash and pulled Alphys out of the bin. 'Get those bones shaking! It's time to jog 100 laps, hooting about how great we are!'

'You ready? I'm about to start the timer!'

'Undyne I...' Alphys frowned, disappointed. 'I'll do my best.'

'Hup hup hup! Come on! Only 99 more to go!' Papyus jogged alongside the slow dinosaur.

'OH MY GOD!' Undyne turned to the children and started panicking. 'SHE WAS KIDDING, RIGHT?! THOSE COMIC BOOKS, THOSE ARE STILL REAL, RIGHT?! ANIME'S REAL, RIGHT?!' She grabbed Thomas and started shaking him violently. 'ANIME'S REAL, RIGHT?!'

'Um.. sure! Sure it is! Now leggo of me!' Thomas cried, and Undyne let him go.

'OH THANK GOD!' She calmed down.

'Anyway, thanks for taking care of Alphys. It really means a lot to me, as I'm sure by now you're all aware of. Things are going to start looking up for her, I think. Thanks a million, kids. Anyway, I'm off. See ya, punks!' She ran off after Papyrus and Alphys.

The children walked off back towards the riverperson.

'Ring...' Papyrus was calling.

'Um... hello... humans! Uhh... Papyrus here... um... Just calling to say Alphys finished her training early, very early. So I sent her home... uh... very home. For some reason, I think you should also go there. To her place-lab-house. I have only good feelings about this. Anyway, ta-ta for now!'

'Click...'

'Well that was certainly something.' Fiona mumbled, hanging up the phone and handing it back to Frisk.

'I hope she's okay...' Thomas whispered.

They took the riverperson back to Hotland, and soon arrived at Alphys' lab. The door opened immediately upon their arrival, and the children stepped in. The lights were on, but dim and flickering. There was an eerie hum coming from the giant monitor.

'There's a crumpled up note by the trash can!' Percy cried, running over to it. He picked it up.

'What does it say?' Thomas asked, walking over towards him and resting a hand on his shoulder.

'I can't really read it. It's written in a really strange handwriting. It says... “I KNOW WHAT YOU DID.”'

'What on Ebott...' Cissy breathed.

'What does that mean?' Thomas asked shakily.

'I don't know, but I think there's still a lot to Alphys that we don't know about. Something... dark.'

'There's another note here on the ground!' Fiona said, picking up the note and reading it.

'It's really hard to read this one too, almost as if the person was shaking as they wrote this.'

'What does it say?' Cody asked.

'It says, “Hey. Thanks for your help back there. It really means a lot. Undyne told me I shouldn't have to lie anymore, and I'm going to start now. If I don't come back, if you want to learn the truth, please, enter the door to the left of this note. It will explain what I did. It will show the awful atrocities I have committed. - Alphys.” That's all she wrote.' Fiona said, folding up the piece of paper.

'The bathroom?' Cody asked, pointing towards the door indicated by the note.

'What's so terrible about a bathroom?'

'It's not a bathroom.' Percy replied. 'But whatever it is, we're about to find out.'

The children walked through the open door.

'It's an elevator...' Cissy whispered, unable to cope with it all.

'There's only one other floor.' Fiona mumbled. '”The True Laboratory”'.

'Press it.' Thomas said.

'Are we really ready for this?' Fiona asked. 'I don't like this.'

'Just do it.' Thomas said through gritted teeth. 'Believe me I don't like this either.'

'Click!'

The elevator started to descend. Suddenly, it stopped.

'Oh God what n-'

Fiona was interrupted by the elevator suddenly dropping at a great speed.

'ELEVATOR LOSING POWER!' Percy yelled.

'EM TETHER STABILITY LOST! ALTITUDE DROPPING!'

'WE'RE GOING TO DIE!' Cody screamed.

'KAPOW!'


	29. Here We Are

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Did the humans survive the crash? What lies in the True Laboratory? Why does Alphys not do any work? Alphys' deepest, darkest secret is revealed.

Darkness. The doors opened. A very dim light shone from the hallway ahead. The children stepped out, dazed, but alive.

'I think I'm concussed.' Percy moaned, rubbing his head.

The walls were slimy and moist; green with mould. Only the floor was clean – it had been recently mopped – but it was wet and the children almost slipped over. The children could see their reflections on the linoleum floor.

'It stinks of cleaning alcohol.' Cissy sniffed at the air.

'It looks like some kind of creepy hospital.' Thomas said.

'Certainlly smells like it.' Cody added.

On a table lay some sort of tablet device. Fiona picked it up and turned it on.

'Entry Number 1.' She read. 'This is it. Time to do what the king has asked me to do. I will create the power to free us all. I will unleash the power of the SOUL.'

'How? You need human SOULs to do that.' Percy frowned.

Fiona kept reading. 'Entry Number 2. The barrier is locked by SOUL power. Unfortunately, this power cannot be recreated artificially. SOUL power can only be derived from what was once living. So, to create more, we will have to use what we have now: The SOULs of monsters.

'It's suddenly cold.' Cody shivered.

'Entry Number 3. But extracting a SOUL from a living monster would require incredible power. Besides being impractical, doing so would instantly destroy the SOUL's host. And, unlike the persistent SOULs of humans, The SOULs of most monsters disappear immediately upon death. If only I could make a monster's SOUL last.'

'How? Did she do it? How long has she been down here...' Cissy whispered. 

'Entry number 5.'

'4? What happened to 4?' Percy asked. 

'4's not loading for some reason.' Fiona wondered in disbelief. 'I've done it. From experimenting on dead humans from the war, I have isolated a power that is unique to humans. I believe this is what gives their SOULs the strength to persist after death. Let's call this power...' Fiona gulped.

'What?' Cissy prompted, lightly touching her arm.

'Determination.'

Frisk shuddered, and their face went pale.

'That's it for now.' Fiona said. 'It's not loading the other ones.'

'What's this up here?' Thomas ran ahead to a large door marked with four different coloured lights. 'POWER ROOM.'

'This must be the door that leads to the elevator's power.' Percy said.

'There's a note on the ground. I can't make it all out.' Cissy squinted at the note. 'Power... went out... keys... That's all I could read.'

'So there must be four different keys for four different slots, and they must open this door.'

'There's a door up here with a red light on it.' Cody shouted from around the corner. 'It's locked.'

'Okay so the red key must be over here.' Percy said, walking towards the left.

'These plants are fake...' Fiona touched a plastic ficus sitting in the corner. 'Wait hold on... Entry number 6. Asgore went through town, asking for monsters who had “fallen down”. Their bodies came in today. They're still comatose, and soon, they'll turn to dust. But what happens if I inject determination into them? If their SOULs persist after they perish then maybe freedom might be closer than we thought.'

The room was slightly misty. Some sort of steam was evaporating from the wet walls.

'These operating tables... they're... sticky...' Cissy withdrew her hand from the table. 'What has she done here?'

'I don't know. I'm scared.' Aurora ran over to Fiona and grabbed her hand.

'I know sweetie. So am I. You wouldn't be human if you weren't.'

'Anything else from the tablet?' Thomas asked, examining the sinks.

'Entry number... 9?' She scratched her head. 'Things aren't going well. None of the bodies have turned to dust, so I can't get the SOULs. I told the families that I would give the dust back for the funerals. People are starting to ask me what's happening. What do I do?'

'She experimented on dead humans and monsters and lied to their families about them? Jesus Christ.' Thomas took off his hat and rubbed his forhead.

'That's all for now. It's glitched again.'

'There's a note in here!' Percy shouted from another room. 'I can't really read it. It says, “drain... dropped it...” that's all I could read. There's also a red slot in here. The key must be somewhere in those sinks, Thomas.'

'I'll have another look.' Thomas said.

'Try turning on the sinks.' Aurora suggested, still firmly gripped onto Fiona's arm.

'Nothing.' Thomas said as he turned on one of the three sinks. 'Nothing. Noth-' He stopped.

While the first two taps were pouring water, the last tap was oozing with a strange white liquid. It plopped into the sink.

'Ewww what is that?' Cody pointed.

'I don't know, bu-' Cissy said.

'STAND BACK!' Thomas shouted. The white blob smiled up at Thomas, and morphed into three hideous creatures. Their faces were unrecognisable, and their bodies look like they had been torn apart and reassembled with super glue.

'OH JESUS FUCKING CHRIST WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS?!' Percy shrieked.

'I don't know!' Fiona cried. 'I can't find any information on them.'

Frisk took out their cellphone. Voices came through the receiver.

'Come join the fun...'

'Join us....

'Lorem ipsum docet...'

Frisk showed Fiona the information shown on the cellphone.

'Memoryheads!' Fiona shouted, pushing Aurora back. 'We'll never join you!'

'Oh....'

'What a shame...'

'You'll miss out...'

The strange blobs split into tiny little balls and scattered around the floor. Each one randomly grew in size and struck the children in anger.

'GO AWAY!' Cissy cried, kicking at the balls around her feet.

Suddenly, the blobs disappeared back into the sink. A red key was left glowing at the bottom near the plughole. Thomas picked it up stuck it into the red slot.

'Click!' It fit perfectly, and the slot glowed a deep red colour.

'Let's keep going. I highly doubt those will be the only ones.' Thomas adjusted his hat.

'What on Ebbot were those things?' Cody asked shakily.

'Monsters.' Fiona said.

'They can't be, look at them!'

'Alphys experimented on them remember? She said she did awful things. I think those are the dead monsters she's talked about in here.' She tapped onto the tablet, which refused to show any more information.

'Okay so the red door is open now. Let's go through.' Percy breathed in and out, traumatised by what he just experienced.

'More entries! Entry number 12. Nothing is happening. I don't know what to do. I'll just keep injecting everything with determination. I want this to work.' The stench got worse, and she and Percy both coughed. 'Entry number 13. One of the bodies opened its eyes.'

'WAIT WHAT?!' Cody shrieked.

'I told you she was hiding something.' Percy said.

'Something awful happened to these monsters. And I'm going to find out what.' Fiona put the tablet down by her side, for no more entries were loading.

They approached a large room filled with beds. A clock sat on the wall at the back. It was stuck on 3 o'clock.

'There's something underneath these sheets!' Cissy pulled back the covers of one of the beds. 'It's a yellow key!'

'Put it on the keychain.' Thomas said. 'We'll need it later.' Cissy tossed the key to Frisk who attached it to the keychain on the cellphone.

'Entry number 14. Everyone that had fallen down, has woken up. They're all walking around and talking like nothing was wrong. I thought they were goners...?'

'Which way? Right or up?' Cody pointed to the two doorways leading into other areas.

'Right first.' Fiona led the children into a hall with one side marked with mirrors.

'Entry number 7. We need a vessel to store the SOULs of the dead monsters.'

'If they die at all...' Thomas mumbled.

'As it is, a monster cannot absorb a monster SOUL, just as a human cannot absorb a human SOUL. So what if something that is neither human nor monster?'

'Like these flowers.' Percy shuddered, turning his eyes away from the bench lined with pots of golden flowers.

'Entry number 10. The vessels aren't working, they can't seem to absorb the SOULs successfully. They don't seem to be any different from the control cases, not to mention the seeds just stick to you and won't let go.

'Cody, quit it!' Cissy scolded her younger brother, who was making faces in the mirror.

'Oh come on, sis!' Cody turned around and faced her sister. 'Let me have a bit of fun in this bleak-as place!'

'C-C-Cody...' His sister whispered shakily.

'What?'

'Y-your r-reflection...' She stammered, pointing a shaky finger at the mirror behind her brother.

Cody turned around. The reflection didn't move with him. Cody's reflection just stared at him. It smiled. Its face turned white, then its whole body. It jumped out the mirror towards Cody. It grew to an enormous side and took the form of some sort of strange bird. Its arms seemed to made of tiny butterfly monsters, screaming as the monster moved.

'Whimsun...' Fiona muttered.

'Its.. Its an Astigmatism...' Cody whispered, pointing at the monsters head.

Sure enough, the head of the strange bird was made of the small bully-like monster they had encountered in the CORE. Its legs were long, and resembled that of a frog.

'Froggit...' Aurora cried, looking at the horrible beast.

The amalgamate shambled from side to side, shivering. Its head was constantly turning, so it could see the children clearly with its eyes plastered on the side of its head. It screeched. It sounded like a bird cawing crossed with a cat caterwauling. Butterflies flew from every direction to the children. The children swatted to get the white swarm off their faces. It was relentless.

'Leave us alone and we'll leave you alone!' Thomas cried, desperate.

'Someone finally gets it...' A broken voice called from Reaper Bird's head.

'I seem to remember something...' The arms cried out.

'Ribbit...' The legs croaked.  
Reaper Bird flew off.

'It didn't drop anything...' Cody sighed, disappointed. 'No gold, not even a key...'

'Perhaps there's a yellow slot over here.' Cissy pointed down the end of the hallway. She turned the corner and frowned. 'There's a blue slot here, and a note. It says, “cold...” That's it. That's all I could read.'

'Why is Alphys so cryptic with where she hides her keys?' Percy frowned, kicking the note off to the side. 'What does “cold” mean? Why are we even here?!'

'Calm down, Percy. There's no use in panicking like this.' Thomas pulled Percy into a tight hug. 'We'll be out of here soon. We'll get that elevator fixed up.'

'I just hope to God Alphys is okay...' Fiona rubbed the back of her neck nervously. 'She said she was worried she might not come back... and not to mention... all this...'

'Let's just keep going. We found the blue slot and the yellow key, so the blue key and the yellow slot must be to the right.' Cody said.

'And the green key and slot. We're almost out of here.'

'Yes. Not long now.' Fiona replied.

'This is all starting to piece together...' Percy poked one of the golden flowers, sending pollen into his face. He sneezed and cursed. 'Bloody allergies... But yes, the SOULs, the determination, the flowers. It all makes sense. Alphys has something to do with Flowey's creation.'

'I don't think she just gave a flower life, even accidentally.' Thomas said.

'She made those things.'

'Yes but they were once living monsters, with SOULs and bodies of their own. A flower does not have a SOUL.'

'Neither does Flowey. But he has consciousness.'

'Which means Flowey use to be a monster. He used to have some sort of life before he became a flower. But to become a flower... he must to have died.'

'Who is – or was – he?' Cissy asked.

'I don't know. Nor do I wanna know.' Fiona shuddered. 'Let's talk about something else, okay? Oh! A new entry. Entry number 15: Well this research was a dead end, but at least we got a happy ending out of it? I sent the SOULs back to Asgore, and told the families that everyone's alive. I'll send them all back tomorrow :)'

'So what happened?' Thomas asked, not wanting to know the answer.

'Entry number 16. no no nO NO NO NO NO'

'Woah. Okay. That happened.' Cody muttered.

'Is there an entry number 17?'

'There is, but it's written in some strange font. It looks like symbols or something... one of them looks like a hand...' Fiona thought for a moment, then shrugged. 'I don't know. I'll skip that one. Number 18's not loading, so let's just keep going.'

'What's in here?' Cody turned and walked through the door on his right. There lay a long, narrow corridor with a shower at the end. Behind the shower curtain, some sort of creature was wagging its tail slowly.


	30. Amalgam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The disgusting and horrifying amalgamates continue to make the children's life hell. In the midst of all the chaos, more of Chara's secrets are revealed. Was Chara's death a tragic accident? Or something more sinister? Get ready, this one's a long one.

'Be very careful, Cody. There might be a key in there, but please do not disturb whatever's behind that curtain.' Cissy rested a hand on his shoulder. He nodded and creeped forward. As the siblings approached, the strange noise the monster was making got louder and the tail wagged faster. Cody quickly pulled back the curtain. Whatever monster was in there, was not there anymore. A green key lay in the bottom of the bathtub. Cody grabbed it and they rejoined the others.

The children approached a room with a large operating table, and a giant scary looking device hanging over it.

'Woah! What is that thing?' Cody shouted, his mouth in the shape of an O.  
Frisk ran and hid behind Fiona's back, scared.

'What's wrong, Frisk?'

Frisk started to cry. They shakily signed the word, 'Flower.'

'Flowey. This is what you fought? This is what Flowey looked like?'  
They nodded.

'Dear Lord...' Fiona breathed. 'Well, don't worry. It's not going to hurt you.'

'I found the yellow slot!' Cissy cried from the room to their right.

'Click!'

'The yellow key is in the slot!' Cody yelled, hi-fiving his sister. 'We also got the green key too.'

'Well done. What's all this?' Fiona looked around at the mass of VHS tapes and DVDs. A large TV lay in the middle, with 5 tapes lying next to it.

'They're all numbered 1 to 5.' Thomas examined the strange tapes.

'Entry number 4!' Fiona cried and halted the others. 'I snooped around Asgore's castle looking for things that might help with the experiment, but instead I found these weird tapes. I don't think Asgore's watched them.' She hesitated. 'I don't think he should.'

'We should watch them. They might help us understand more about Flowey and why Asgore has an obsession with golden flowers.' Percy replied and inserted the first tape into the TV.

The video played, but nothing could be seen. The audio was clear, but the video was pitch black. A woman's voice laughed in the background.

'Tori dear...' A deep voice called sleepily. 'What are you doing with that camera? It's late. You need to sleep.'

'Shh shh shh!' The woman laughed.

'That's Toriel and Asgore!' Cody cried.

'I wanted to film your reaction.' The queen continued on the screen. 'What is my favourite vegetable?'

'I don't know honey, carrots maybe?' Asgore replied, very sleepy.

'No, silly!' Toriel giggled. 'My favourite vegetable is... EdaMOMe!' She howled with laughter, and Asgore sighed.

'Come back to bed, dear.'

'No no no!' She giggled again. 'If I were a dog, what breed would I be?'

'Um...' Asgore hesitated. 'I don't know honey, what breed of dog would you be?'

'A...' She paused for effect. 'MOMeranian!' She howled again, and Asgore chuckled slightly.

'You certainly are excited to have this child, aren't you? Well, if you keep this up, one day you could be a famous...' He paused for effect. 'MOMedian!' He laughed a loud, jolly laugh.

'Well, I am going to bed dear.'

'Oh come on, Tori! That was funny!'

'I know, Gorey dear, I am only teasing.' She sighed. 'Oh dear I think it's too dark for the video to come out...'

'Click....' The tape finished.

'What was that all about?' Cody asked.  
Everyone shrugged. Percy put in the next tape.

Birds twittered in the distance. A small voice giggled from behind the camera. Once again, the video was pitch black.

'Hee hee!' The voice was kind, and childish. The children didn't recognise it. It sounded like a young, slightly-boyish Toriel. 'Come on, Chara! Do your creepy face!'

'CHARA? WHO-' Cody yelled.

'Shut up!' His sister hissed.

'AHAHAHA! Hee!' There was a thump, as if the cameraperson had collapsed on the floor in laughter. 'Aww, dang it! I left the lens cap on... What? You're not going to do it again? Oh come on, don't be mean!'

'Click...' The tape finished.

'Who was that? And why were they talking to Chara?' Cody demanded.

'Isn't it obvious?' Fiona replied. 'Think: Who did Chara use to live with?'

'The Royal Family.'

'Yes, and we know what Toriel and Asgore sound like, and there was only one other member.'

'You mean, that's Asriel?'

'It sure is.'

'You don't think-' Thomas stopped himself.

'No that's stupid.' He said out loud to himself.

'Scratch that.'

'What?' Percy asked him. 'What were you about to say?'

'Never mind. It doesn't matter. Put in the next tape.'

Percy narrowed his eyes at Thomas, but obeyed.

'Ok Chara, smile for the camera! Aha! Fooled you! This time I put the lens cap on – on purpose! Now you're smiling for no reason!' He laughed and the wind beat at the camera.

'What? Oh yeah, when we tried to make butterscotch pie or Dad, I remember. The recipe asked us to put cups of butter, but we accidentally put in buttercups instead!' He laughed again. 'Those flowers made him really sick. I felt bad, I should have laughed it off like you did.' A muffled voice spoke back to him. 'What? Turn off the camera? Ok.'

'Click...' the third tape finished.

'What's he talking about?' Percy said, putting in the next tape.

'Chara... I... I don't think I like this plan anymore... What? I'm not- no- big kids don't cry!' Asriel shouted, choking back tears. 'No, I said I'd never doubt you! We'll do it. We'll free everyone, and we'll do it together. I'll go get the buttercups.'

'Click...'

'Wait... So this is how Chara-' Cody started to say.

'Yep.' His sister interrupted, choking back tears.

Percy put in the last tape.

'Chara please, please wake up. This is all just a bad dream!' Toriel cried out.

'Chara, wake up! You are the future of humans and monsters! You have to stay determined!' Asgore whispered, fighting back tears.

'Chara... please.. please wake up! I... I don't like this plan anymore... No! I said I'd never doubt you... but please... please wake up...'

'Click....'

Silence.

'Whatever happens,' Fiona finally said. 'We do not breathe a word of this to Chara if we see them again, got it?'

The children nodded. Frisk looked like they were going to be sick.

'What's wrong Frisk?' Aurora asked.

They pointed at the glowing yellow star that lay in the path ahead of them, right in front of the large machine which frightened Frisk before.

'What is that?' Thomas asked, finding himself being drawn towards it.

'I don't know...' Percy replied, shambling like a zombie over to it.

'I want to touch it...' Cody said, his hand reaching towards it.

'It's pretty...' Aurora mumbled, not really there.

Frisk tried to grab Cody back away from it, but his large body was too heavy for them to do anything, and it was too late.

'Ping!' The star turned to Cody and smiled at him. It grew massively in size, turning into another white amalgmate. It had a short, squat body and a massive head. The body consisted of one very muscular arm which flexed every so often, and lots of little holes which seemed to be whistling a ghostly tune. On top of its oversized head it had two large eyes which bore holes through the children. Its gaping mouth showed a series of very large, sharp teeth.

Smells like sweet lemons. The amalgamate tried to chomp down on the children with its large teeth. The children all jumped back in shock, released from their trance.

'Welcome to my special hell...' The monster whispered. The sounds echoed from its holes around its leg, and they seemed to be coming from every direction. 'Do you think I'm pretty?'

The children quickly nodded their heads in fear.

Lemon Bread hmmphed. 'That'sss what they all sssay...'

Aurora started humming to tune out the horrible hissing whispers. Lemon Bread's mouth quivered. Frisk narrowed their eyes at the large muscular arm, and flexed their own. The muscle started to twitch violently.

'I've felt this before....' The amalgamate whispered.

'Could this be goodbye?!' Cody screamed as its large mouth descended on him. It stopped, its long canines inches from his face.

'Hisss....' It whispered as it melted into the ground and crawled away.

'That was close...' Cissy whispered, pulling her brother into a tight hug.

A sign next to the large machine read: 'DT extraction machine.'

'That thing extracted the determination from the dead humans? Jeez.' Thomas said.

'Why is it so frightening?' Percy asked. 'And how come Flowey used that as a reference for his horrible form?'

Frisk shook their head.

'The steam's getting too thick. I can't see anything in here.' Fiona said.

'There's something here...' Cissy whispered, running her hand along some sort of object. 'Something... in the shape of a man... It's breathing...' She recoiled her hand away in fear and disgust. 'There are fans up there, but they're turned off.' She pointed to the roof.

'There must be some sort of switch down the other way.' Fiona said. 'We'll have to turn around and find it.'

They followed Fiona back the way they came, and took the right hand path from the door to the bedroom. It too, was steamy, but visible. A switch lay near the end. Fans lined the ceiling, and in the fog little white particles that looked like bits of paper hung in the air.

'Do I want to know what those things are?' Thomas asked shakily, pointing at the odd bits of paper.

'Entry number 11!' Fiona cried, holding up the tablet. 'Now that Mettaton's made it big, he doesn't talk to me anymore. Unless he's asking me about when I'm going to finish his body. But I'm afraid if I do it, we won't be friends anymore. Not to mention every time I go to work on it I just get really sweaty...'

'Poor Alphys. What did she do to get a friend like him?' Percy sighed.

'I don't know, but she likes and trusts him, and relies on him for some reason.' Cissy shrugged.

'Click!' Cody flicked the switch on the wall. The fans whirred to life, and soon, the steam was cleared. The bits of paper, however, were not. They formed together into a large ball. It smiled at the children. It came down onto the floor, and formed a large dog-like beast. Its body shambled as it walked towards the children. It was a dead end. The amalgamate shambled closer. Closer. Closer still. Its mouth was just a large hole in the middle of its face, which contracted and expanded randomly. A black liquid dribbled out of it. Its legs seemed to made up of lots of little cats. It panted slowly, and it sounded more like a panflute being played inside a cave.

'It's like some sort of dog... What do we do? Do we treat it like a dog?' Thomas asked Percy.

'I don't know it's worth a try? Frisk throw your stick!' Percy shouted.

Frisk took their stick out of their pocket and threw it over the amalgamate's head. It turned around and flopped over to it. It brought it back to Frisk and dropped at their feet, proudly? Frisk threw it again, but they didn't go and retrieve it. Aurora rested its hand on its large body.

'Eww it's sticky...' She said, lightly petting its dripping amorphorus body. More black liquid, which seemed to be some sort of saliva, drooled out the amalgamate's mouth. It jumped away from Aurora's hand and crawled wildly on the walls. Frisk picked up the stick again and threw it. The monster picked it up again and gave it back to Frisk. The large monster flopped onto the ground with its seven cat-like legs sticking up in the air. The children all hesitated, then rubbed its tummy. The monster rolled back onto its back and fell asleep, contented. The children cautiously stepped over the Endogeny and carried on.

'Well that was certainly something.' Fiona said, almost tripping over the large tail of the beast. She shook her head.

The children walked back towards the foggy room, which was now completely clear. What Cissy thought was a man, was just a fridge.

'But I swore I felt it breathing...' Cissy whispered. One of the fridges further along shook violently for a bit, then stood still.

'Did- Did you see that?' Cody pointed towards the now stationary fridge.

'See what?' The others replied.

'The frid- never mind.' Cody shook his head.

'Entry number 19!'

'Where are all these entries coming from? And why are the numbers all staggered and out of order?' Percy asked.

'We're still missing 8 and 18.' Thomas counted on his fingers.

'They're all encrypted or something. I don't know.' Fiona replied. 'People are getting angry. They keep calling me. I don't even answer the phone anymore.' She looked up sadly. 'Alphys' grammar and spelling are getting worse and worse as she writes these. Clearly what she did here left her traumatised.'

'No wonder she's so anxious.' Thomas took off his hat, as if to respect her.

'Entry number 20. Asgore left me 5 messages today. 4 about everyone being mad, and 1 about how he found a teapot that looks like me. Thanks Asgore.' She sighed. 'Wow there's like, no emotion here at all.' She kept scrolling. 'Entry number 21. I spend all the time at the dump now. It's my element.' She put up her hands and let the tablet drop to her side. 'And that's it. That's all the entries she wrote. I still can't access entries 8 and 18, maybe we will in the power room.'

'Cody leave that alone. It's just a fridge.' Cissy scolded.

'But I swear it moved!' Cody shouted, knocking on the fridge door and shaking it. He sighed. 'I don't know. This place is beginning to mess with me.'

'Yeah the sooner we're out, the better.' Thomas said, his boots clinking as his legs shook.

'The green slot's in here, let's just-' Cissy was interrupted by a sharp, high-pitched noise coming from the fridge Cody had just examined. The fridge turned white, and smiled at the children. The room suddenly got cold. The fridge turned into a masive monster, which seemed to resemble a snowflake. Its form was warped by lots of grotesque faces stuck in painful smiling expressions.

'Is that...' Percy recognised the main part of the awful beast. 'A snowdrake?'

'We met Snowdrake's dad in the MTT resort, and he said his wife... passed on... ages ago.' Thomas shuddered. 'Could this be her?'

'Only one way to find out.' Percy cleared his throat. 'H-hello, miss, i-it's ice to meet you!'

'Ha.. ha...' The amalgamate shivered. 'It's so cold...'

'It seems to be working... Um... B-better n-not snowflake out!'

'Ha.. ha... S-Snowy...' She mumbled, seeming to remember something.

'Okay, um, one more should do it... okay... D-don't m-make f-fun of frozen water, it's snow joke!'

'Ha... ha... thank you....' She said, and vanished. A blue key lay in her place. The cold disappeared.

'That's the last key! Well done Percy.' Thomas smiled and winked at him. Percy blushed.

'Click!' The green key glowed inside the green slot.

'Now let's just go back to the blue slot by the flowers, put the blue key in and we're done!'

Fiona clapped her hands.

'Hopefully we don't run into any more of those things...' Cody shuddered.

The children all ran to the blue slot and fit the key in.

'Click!'

'Okay now to the power room. We'll turn the elevator power back on and make our way back to Alphys' lab, then back to Asgore.' Fiona said.

The children all walked back down towards the red door and out towards the power room. Inside the power room doors lay an elevator with two doors. The other door to the elevator was open.

'Seems like another elevator has lost its power...' Percy mumbled.

The children all walked down the hallway to a large set of double doors. They pushed open the double doors. Inside lay a huge set of wires connected to large set at the far end. The children all quickly ran over and pressed the switch.

'Join us...' Came a voice from behind the children. They turned around, and saw a large group of Memoryheads shifting towards them.

'Oh no, oh no, oh no no no no no no!' Cissy cried, hugging her brother as a Memoryhead reached an arm out towards her.

'Wait! S-stop!'

The memoryheads turned around in response to the familiar voice.

'I g-got you guys s-some food, okay?' Alphys stammered to them. The memoryheads smiled and walked out. 'S-sorry about t-them! T-they j-just get kind of cranky when they don't get fed on time.'

'What the hell happened, Alphys?' Thomas cried, dusting himself off. 'What the hell is all this?'

'I'm sorry! The power went out, and I was trying to find a way to turn it back on! B-but it looks like you were one step ahead of me. And I was afraid that I was going to do something cowardly, or...' She sighed. 'I suppose I owe you an explanation. During my days of experimenting in the lab, I found a strange liquid present in human SOULs called determination. I isolated it and injected it into the SOULs of dying monsters so I could collect their SOULs, in hopes to recreate artificial human SOULs to shatter the barrier with. But unfortunately, my plan failed. The monsters woke up, and started walking around. And monsters bodies don't have enough... physical matter to take that concentration of determination. Soon enough, their bodies started to melt, and lost what physicality they had, and they fused together to become...'

'Those.' Fiona finished, shaking.

'Indeed. Seeing them like this, I knew... I couldn't tell their families about it. I couldn't tell anyone about it!' Alphys threw her hands up in the air. 'And I lost my confidence to continue working, knowing that everything I had done so far had been such a horrific failure.'

'So what now?' Cissy asked.

'Now? Well, thanks to you guys, I think I'm finally ready to confess the truth and start working again. It's going to be hard, believing in myself, but knowing that I have my friends behind me, I think I will be able to pull through.' She smiled at the seven fallen humans. 'Thank you.' She turned around and regrouped with the Memoryheads, who had returned. 'Come on guys! It's time for everyone to go home.' The Memoryheads smiled, and followed her out.

'Things are going to start looking up for her.' Fiona smiled as she recalled what Undyne had said. 'She looks happier. And much less stressed. I know she's going to be okay.'  
The children followed her out of the power room and down the hallway towards the elevator.

'Entry number 8!' Fiona cried. 'I've found it. I've chosen a candidate. I haven't told Asgore yet, as I want to surprise him with it, but in the centre of his garden, there's something special. A golden flower, one that grew before all the others. The flower from the surface world. I wonder, what happens when something without a SOUL gains the will to live?'

'Oh no.' Percy whispered.

'Entry number 18.' Fiona hesitated and rested the tablet on a table next to them. 'The flower's gone.'

The children stepped into the elevator in stunned silence.

'R i n g . . .' The phone buzzed quietly in Frisk's hand. It's a voice they'd never heard before.

'Chara, are you there? It's me. It's been a long time, hasn't it?' The voice chuckled. 'But you've done well. Thanks to you, everything has fallen into place.'

'What's he talking about?'

'Chara... See you soon.'

Suddenly, the elevator doors shut. It started to climb at an alarming rate.

'What's happening?' Cody panicked, clutching onto his sister.

'POW!' The elevator came to an abrupt stop and threw everyone out of the elevator.

'What happened? Where are we?' Thomas stood up and looked around.

'We're at the capital...' Cissy moaned in confusion, her legs aching as she looked around.

'Uh... guys?' Cody whispered, his lips trembling. 'You might wanna look at the elevator.'

The door was jammed shut with vines.


	31. Don't Give Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything is coming together. The humans once again must face Asgore, but someone interrupts. Chara returns, and everyone comes together to stop the children from leaving. Meanwhile, Flowey has other plans, and his true form is revealed.

The children instinctively knew what they had to do. The walked through the capital towards the first elevator. They bypassed Asgore's house via the elevator and walked down into the corridor. It was still light out, but the sun was beginning to set beneath Mt. Ebbot, flooding the room with bright red light through the stained-glass windows. It was eerily quiet. The children were scared. They walked through the throne room back towards Asgore. The children, bloody and exhausted, could not bear to face Asgore, but they knew they had to.

'This isn't going to end well.' Thomas sighed and rubbed his neck.

'Those vines are still scaring me. What if Flowey followed us?' Cissy asked, sitting down and rubbing her sore knees.

'I don't know, but one thing's for sure, and that we still have to continue forward, no matter what the cost. It's been almost two days since we fell here, our parents are going to be worried sick.' Percy stood up straight despite his sore back.

'Is it still really worth his life? Look at all these wonderful friends we made? Should we just stay here?' Fiona asked.

'I'm scared.' Aurora sat down and hugged her knees.

Fiona shook her head. 'No. You're right Percy. We have to continue. Finish what we started, right?'

The children nodded solemnly.

'Ok. Let's go.'

The barrier hummed loudly as they stepped through the archway. Asgore stood still, staring at it.

'Hmmm? Oh hi there! You were gone for quite a while. Did you resolve everything? Are you ready?' He turned around and sighed. He was clearly tired too.

The children nodded and said nothing.

'I see. Alright then. This is it...'

The journey was almost over. Twilight streamed through the barrier. The children were filled with …

'Determination.'

'Humans...' Asgore mumbled and smiled sadly. 'It was... nice... to meet you. Goodbye.' He stood still, stalling.

'Whoosh!' A fireball flew over the children and straight into Asgore, knocking him backwards.

'What a misreable creature, tortuting such poor, innocent youths!'

'TORIEL!' The children cheered. Toriel smiled at the children.

'Do not be afraid my children. It is I, Toriel, your friend and guardian. When you left the Ruins I couldn't stop worrying about you! With a help of little friend of ours...' She stepped out of the way, and Chara smiled sheepishly at the children.

'CHARA!' The children all cried.

'H-hey guys...' Chara stammered, embarrased.

'Chara convinced me to come after you. They saw how... determined you were to go home and- well isn't it wrong to sacrifice someone simply to let someone else leave here?'  
The children all looked down solemnly.

'Isn't that what I was trying to prevent all along?' She smiled.

'Tori! You came back!' Asgore moaned but smiled happily, clutching at his burnt chest.

'Do not “Tori” me, Dreemurr!' She scowled. 'You pathetic whelp!'

Chara winced.

'If you truly wanted to free our kind, you would have gone through the barrier after you acquired one SOUL, taken 6 SOULs from the humans, then come back and destroyed the barrier.' She huffed. 'Instead you made everyone wait in despair, meekly hoping that another human never comes!'

'You're right. I am a terrible person.' Asgore sighed sadly. 'But...' He looked up and smiled at his ex-wife. 'Do you think we could at least be friends again?'

Toriel sighed. 'No. Dreemurr.'

'NGAHHH! Nobody fight anyone! Or I'll-' Undyne stopped when she saw the queen.

'Hello! Are you the humans' friend? I am Toriel, hello!'

'Um... hi I guess...' She walked over to Asgore. 'Jeez Asgore, is that your ex? That's rough buddy.'

He sighed and nodded. Tears were streaming down his face.

'Hehe, n-nobody h-h-hurt a-anyone!' Alphys shouted, waving her arms in the air so people would notice her small frame.

'Hello! Are you another friend?' Toriel smiled down at the tiny dinosaur. 'I am Toriel, hello!'

'Um... h-hi!' She looked up nervously. She turned to the humans and whispered, 'There's two of them???' She walked up and stood next to Undyne, looking up and smiling at her.

'NYEH! NOBODY FIGHT ANYONE!' Papyrus shouted. 'Or I'll! Be forced!' He looked around nervously. 'To ask Undyne for help!'

'Hello there!' Toriel smiled and waved at the friendly skeleton.

'Oh! Hello your majesty!' He stared wide-eyed at the queen and smiled. He turned to Fiona.

'Psst! Fiona! Hey! Did Asgore shave? And... clone himself?'

Fiona giggled. 'No Papyrus! That's the queen.'

'The queen?! Wowie! I can't believe Asgore's clone is the queen!'

'Hey guys, wassup?' Sans walked into view.

'That voice...' Toriel blushed. She walked over to the tiny skeleton. 'Hello, I think we may... know each other?'

'Yeah, I think I recognise your voice too.' He smiled and winked at her.

'I am Toriel, hello! It is so nice to finally meet you.' She smiled down at him.

'The name's Sans, and... uh... same.'

'Oh! And this must be your brother, Papyrus!' She said, looking at the tall skeleton. 'Hello, Papyrus! Your brother has told me about you!'

Papyrus blushed. 'Wowie! I can't believe Asgore's clone knows who I am! This is the greatest day of my life!'

'Hey Papyrus!' Toriel giggled and nudged Sans. 'What does a skeleton tile his roof with?' She smiled innocently and tried very hard not to laugh.

'Hmm... Snow-proof roof tiles?' Papyrus answered, scratching his skull.

'No silly! A skeleton tiles his roof with...' She paused for effect. 'SHINgles!' She, Aurora and Frisk howled with laughter. Sans smiled and shook his head.  
'

ARRGGH!' Papyrus screamed. 'I changed my mind! This is the worst day of my life!'

Everyone howled with laughter, except for Asgore, who was crying even harder.

'Aw, come on Asgore! It'll be okay! There are plenty of fish in the sea!'

'Y-yeah! Undyne is.. uh... t-totally r-right about that fish thing! S-sometimes, y-you g-gotta s-stop ch-chasing after furry boss monsters... and... just get to know a really cute fish?' Alphys blushed. The children all giggled. Undyne stared wide-eyed at her. 'I-it's a metaphor.' Alphys rushed to defend herself, pushing her glasses back onto her face.

'Well... I think it's a good analogy.' Undyne smiled.

'OH MY GOD!' Mettaton yelled from off the side. He pointed his leg towards the two lovers. 'Just smooch already! The audience is dying for some romantic action!'

'HEY! SHUT UP!' Undyne yelled at the sexy, robotic leg. 'Man, the nerve of that guy. Right Alphys?'

Alphys said nothing.

'R-right Alphys?' Undyne asked nervously.

'No. He's right. Let's do it.' Alphys yelled.

The children went wide-eyed, as did Undyne.

'WHAT??? I MEAN- YEAH??? IF YOU WANT TO??? I GUESS???' Undyne shotued, flustered. 'D-don't hold anything back!' She bent down and pursed her lips. Alphys stood on the tips of her toes to reach up.

'Erm- not in front of the humans!' Toriel stood between the two, who were now blushing, very embarrased.

'Um right. Sorry. I just got carried away.' Alphys giggled.

'Well, looking at all these amazing friends you have all made here, I think we'll all be happy here.' Toriel smiled at the children.

Sans went and stood next to Alphys, and Papyrus on the other side of her.

'Group hug?' Fiona suggested.

'Sure! Why not! Gather in everybody!' Toriel smiled and held out her arms. Everyone joined in for a big hug, except Frisk, who tried to pull everyone back.

'Hey... um... Papyrus?' Alphys asked. 'Um... You called everyone here right? Well... besides... her.' She gestured to Toriel, who had Aurora in a tight hug. 'So... If I came here before you...'

'Yes?' Papyrus said, rubbing his chin on Fiona's hair.

'How did you know to call everyone?'

'Let's just say...' Papyrus winked. 'A tiny flower helped me.'

'A TINY.... FLOWER?!' Alphys and the children all screamed.

'CRACK!' A large vine skewered the monsters and the children. Only Frisk was unharmed.

'You. Idiot. While you were having your little pow-wow, I pushed y'all right into my trap! Now not only do I have your friend's human SOULs, but I have the SOULs of all your monster friends as well! And its all your fault. All because you made them love you! If you had just gone through without caring about anyone, none of them would be here! Hee hee hee! And with all the SOULs in my grasp, I will achieve my real form.'

'Asriel no...' Chara whispered, too scared to try and stop the sadistic flower. 'What have I done...'

'Why am I still doing this? Don't you GET IT?! This is all just a story! If you leave the underground safely, the story will end happily! But this is reality, idiot. There's no such thing as HAPPY ENDINGS! I'll keep you here, no matter what!'

Suddenly, Frisk SOUL turned green. They couldn't move.

'EVEN IF IT MEANS KILLING YOU 1 MILLION TIMES!'

Frisk was surrounded by friendliness pellets coming from all directions. They were struck with wave after wave of pellets. Beaten and bloody, they looked up at Flowey, who just laughed at him. The final wave of pellets closed in on Frisk. This was it. They were going to die.

'Ping!'

Frisk looked up. The pellets had vanished. A circle of fireballs lay in their place for just a second.

'What?' Flowey snarled.

'Do not be afraid my child.' Toriel, bound by vines, smiled weakly at the weak child. 'No matter what happens, we will always be there to protect you.'

'NO!' Flowey screamed and sent more pellets towards Frisk. A large bone and a large spear came up and blocked them.

'THAT'S RIGHT HUMAN!' Papyrus shouted. 'WE KNOW THAT YOU CAN WIN! JUST DO WHAT I WOULD DO, BELIEVE IN YOU!'

'Hey! Human! If you got past me, you can do anything!' Undyne smiled her toothy grin, and stopped pulling at the vines. 'So don't worry, we're with you all the way!'

'Huh? You haven't beaten this guy yet? Come on, this weirdo's got nothing on you.' Sans smiled and winked at Frisk.

With each encouraging word, Frisk got stronger and stronger.

'GAH!' Flowey cried, sending more pellets. They were blocked by little lightning bolts and more fireballs.

'Erm... t-technically it's im-impossible f-for you to beat him...' Alphys frowned, then quickly changed it into a smile. 'But, somehow, I know you can do it!'

'Human!' Asgore smiled. 'For the future of humans and monsters, YOU HAVE TO STAY DETERMINED!'

'You can do it, Frisk!' Fiona cried.

'I believe in you!' Cissy laughed.  
'

Come on, you got this!' Cody encouraged.

'You can do it.' Percy smiled weakly.

'I'm cheering you on!' Aurora giggled.

'This is your moment, Frisk.' Thomas nodded.

Suddenly, all around Frisk, more monsters were appearing, shouting encouraging words. Froggit, the two Royal Guards, Greater Dog and the other dogs, Grillby, Muffet, Burgerpants, Mettaton. Every monster in the underground had come to cheer them on.

'No! Unbelievable! This can't be happening! You... you!' Flowey looked desperate.

'Asriel don't-' Chara tried to say.

Suddenly everything froze.

'I can't believe you're all so stupid!' Flowey laughed. 'ALL OF YOUR SOULS ARE MINE!'  
Everyone started to convulse violently. The room went white. Frisk tried to cling on to their own SOUL. Everyone vanished. In Flowey's place, a little goat wearing a green and yellow striped sweater sat facing away from Frisk.

'Finally.' It whispered. 'I was so tired of being a flower.' It turned around and smiled. 'Chara? Are you there? It's me, your best friend!'  
Suddenly, he transformed into a larger goat wearing a long, purple robe like Toriel's. The delta rune shone brightly on his robe. On his shoulders he had little purple shoulder guards, like on Asgore's cloak. He had small horns sticking out the top of his head, and a little heart shaped locket around his neck, like Chara's.

'ASRIEL DREEMURR.'


	32. Hopes And Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the end. The final showdown. Frisk and Chara must face the all-powerful God Of Hyperdeath to save their friends. But is there a shred of Asriel left inside the compassionless beast?

It's the end. Asriel floated gently up and down in front of Frisk. The barrier was pitch black. The only light source eminated off Asriel's godlike body. He sent out little fireballs towards Frisk, who dodged them with ease.

Suddenly, Asriel lifted his arms up and screamed. The barrier started glowing rainbow colours. The light blinded Frisk. A strong wind blew through the barrier and ruffled at Frisk's hair. Asriel laughed and brought his hands downwards. Giant white stars crashed all around Frisk, smashing into smaller stars headed straight towards them. Frisk was struck with star after star.  
Frisk grimaced. They held onto their hopes. They felt stronger, and the attacks didn't hurt as much.

'Ha ha!' Asriel smirked at the tiny human. 'You know, I don't care about destroying this world anymore.' He shrugged. 'When I defeat you and take total control of the timeline, I just want to reset everything.' He raised his hands again, and bolts of lightning shot all around Frisk, electrocuting them. 'All your progress, everyone's memories, I'll send them all back to zero!' He laughed maniacally.

Frisk felt a cool, yet somewhat warm, presence on their shoulder. Chara smiled down at them.

'Let's win this together.' They said, and adjusted the heart-shaped locket around Frisk's neck.

Asriel summoned two giant sabers, and sent them flying down towards Frisk. He crashed them together, creating a bunch of tiny stars headed towards Frisk. One of them nicked their face and they winced as they bled.

'Hold onto your hopes...' Chara whispered. 'Stay determined.'

Frisk thought about why they were there right now. Their dreams shone bright, protecting them from harm.

'And you know what the best part of all this is?' Asriel grinned. 'You'll do it.' He fired a laser straight towards Frisk, slamming right into their face. They spirralled backwards and hit the barrier. Their face was slightly singed, but they were mostly unharmed. They grinned up at Asriel, mocking him.

'Then you'll lose to me again.' Asriel snarled. 'And again!' He struck Frisk with another lightning bolt. 'AND AGAIN!'

Frisk thought of all their friends and smiled back at Asriel.

'GAH! All this resistance? Just cause you want a happy ending?' Asriel chuckled. 'I see. You love your friends, who could blame you? Oh look at you, all filled with determination. Well Chara-'

'THAT IS NOT MY NAME!' Frisk yelled, holding up their dagger to absorb the next laser blast.

'We'll be here fighting together, playing for enternity!' Asriel laughed. 'How delicious, your determination, the strength that let you get this far. IT'S GOING TO BE YOUR DOWNFALL!' Asriel swiped at Frisk with his large sabers, taking off a bit of hair as Frisk dodged them. Asriel snarled. 'Now! Enough messing around. Let's purge this timeline once and for all!' Asriel created a mini black hole, sucking bits of rock into it. Frisk tried hard to pull away from the immense force, but could not withstand it. They were sucked into it, and then the hole exploded outwards.  
Frisk smacked into the barrier again and collapsed on the ground.

'Come on, you have to get back up.' Chara whispered into their ear. 'You are the future of humans and monsters, you have to stay determined!'

Frisk sat up slowly. They stood up, and stared at Asriel.

'After that attack, you're still standing in my way?' He shrugged and laughed. 'You really are something special. Well, don't get cocky. Up until now, I've only been using a fraction of my real power. Let's see what good your determination is against this!'

Frisk's eyes started to glaze over, making Asriel appear squashed and stretched out. The colours of the barrier started to fade, and everything went dark. Frisk's eyes snapped open suddenly. Their arms and legs were pinned to the wall.

'Can't move your body.' Asriel laughed. 'Urah ha ha! Behold! My true power!' His robe had vanished, along with most of his first form. His horns grew longer and sharper. His arms were long and on his hands he had holes in the shape of triangles. His legs had morphed together into one big upside-triangle. Growing out of his body he had long, grotesque wings flashing with rainbow colours. He looked like an angel of death. 'I am the God of Hyperdeath! It's kill or be killed! Everyone will die at my hand!' He laughed maniaclly and sent glowing firey orbs towards Frisk.

'Pow! Bang! Smack!' Frisk was hit with blow after blow.

'Crack!' Frisk's SOUL cracked, but it refused to shatter. Frisk opened their eyes.

'Urah ha ha! I can feel it. Every time you die, your grip on this world slips away. Every time you die, your friends forget you a little more. You will die here, in a world where nobody even remembers you.' Asriel fired more orbs straight into Frisk's SOUL. Frisk winced as each blow burnt at their skin and tore at their SOUL. 'Still?! You're still hanging on? That's fine. In a few moments, you'll forget everything too. That attitude will serve you well in your next life!'

'Stop struggling and do something! You struggle, nothing happened. You try to move your body, nothing happened. You tried to user your determination to go back, and nothing happened.' Chara looked into Frisk's closed eyes. 'Don't you get it? Saving yourself now really is impossible. But...' They smiled. 'With what little power you have, you can save something else.'

Frisk snapped open their eyes. They knew what to do. They reached out and called to their friends.

'They're in there somewhere, aren't they?' Chara smiled.

Within the depths of Asriel's SOUL, something resonated.

The lost SOULs appeared.

'Fiona... Aurora... ' Frisk whispered.

What was once Fiona and Aurora now stood two grey figures which looked somewhat similar to them. Their faces were blurred out by two white floating masses. They couldn't remember anything.

'Take my hand, Frisk. You will not leave my sight again.' The larger lost SOUL swiped at Frisk with its pan.

'Why did you run? We should have stayed. We all fell here because of your impatience.' The smaller lost SOUL ran at Frisk with its swiss army knife out.

Frisk giggled their soft little giggle. The large lost SOUL hesitated. The other lost SOUL stopped in its tracks.

'Remember when you comforted me in my time of need? We need your kindness now!' Chara yelled. The large lost SOUL lowered its pan. It seemed like it was trying to remember...

'The old whoopee cushion in the hand trick!' Frisk shouted. The large lost SOUL threw her pan on the ground. The small lost SOUL giggled. Suddenly, their memories started to come back.

'Frisk! Oh my dear are you alright? Come here.' Fiona ran over and pulled Frisk into a hug.

'Frisk! I'm so sorry. Can you forgive me?' Aurora sobbed.

Frisk smiled.

'Two down, ten to go.' Chara winked.

The foursome regrouped and called out to the others. Within the depths of Asriel's SOUL, something resonated.

The lost SOULs stood there.

Two large goats with blurred out faces stood guard. One was wearing a cloak, the other was wearing a robe.

'This is for your own good.' The robed lost SOUL said.

'This is my duty...' The cloaked lost SOUL whispered.

The lost SOULs summoned fireballs and threw them at the children.

'Toriel!' Fiona cried. 'We have to go if we want to free everyone!'

The robed lost SOUL faltered.

'Asgore!' Chara yelled. 'Remember when we used to all make butterscotch pie?'

The cloaked lost SOUL seemed to lose its footing.

'We will not fight you!' Aurora cried.

The lost SOULs put out their fireballs. The memories had flooded back!

'You are the future of humans and monsters!' Asgore smiled.

'You have to stay determined!' Toriel wiped a tear from her eye.

'Four down, eight to go!' Chara gave Frisk a hi-five.

The children continued to reach out and call for their friends. Asriel's SOUL resonated.

The lost SOULs appeared. A tall, skeletal-like figure and a slightly smaller skeletal-like figure.

'I WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN!' The tall SOUL shouted.

'Just give up. I did.' The short SOUL whispered solemnly.

Bones flew at the children from all directions. Toriel and Asgore fought hard to fend them off.

'Knock knock!' Toriel cried.

The lost SOULs didn't respond.

'Who's there?' Asgore replied.

'Little old lady!' Toriel smirked.

'Little old lady who?' Asgore smiled back.

'Oh! I did not know you could yodel!' She laughed.

The short lost SOUL stopped attacking to laugh. The taller lost SOUL stamped the ground with its foot.

'Papyrus! We need help with this puzzle!'

Frisk shouted.

The tall lost SOUL looked like it wanted to help, but shook its head.

'Sans!' Fiona cried. 'We will think about what we did, and why we came here.'

The small lost SOUL nodded, like it understood. Suddenly, the memories came back!

'No! Wait! You're my friends, I could never capture you!' Papyrus grinned at the humans.

'Nah, I'm rootin' for y'all.' Sans winked.

'Not long now! Halfway there!' Chara cried.

Within the depths of Asriel's SOUL, something was resonating.

The lost SOULs stood there. One wore a large cowboy hat, and the other was dressed head to toe in torn, grey rags.

'I have to push forward.' The ragged SOUL said.

'Y'all deserve this.' The SOUL with the hat said, cocking its revolver.

Shards of glass were thrown at the free SOULs, and bullets echoed all around.

'Percy! Remember when you got us past the Royal Guard dogs?' Aurora yelled, rolling around on the floor like a dog.

The ragged lost SOUL took a step back, as if nervous.

'Thomas! Remember who your real friends are! How much Percy means to you! Don't throw it all away!' Fiona yelled.

The tall lost SOUL's hand shook.

'You two have helped us through so much!' Chara cried. 'Now it's our turn to help you!'

Suddenly, the memories came flooding back!

Thomas and Percy smiled at each other.

'Naw, you guys are my friends!' Thomas smiled, grasping onto Percy's hand. 'I could never hurt you.'

'Let's do this together.' Percy grinned, squeezing Thomas' hand.

'Undyne, Alphys, Cissy and Cody!' Chara cried. 'We need you!'

The lost SOULs appeared. One was very tall and had blue-grey scales, and the other was short and wore a long lab coat and yellow scales.

'All humans must die!' The large lost SOUL screamed.

'I... I h-have to k-keep lying...' The small lost SOUL stammered.

'Undyne!' Asgore cried. 'Remember when you finally knocked me down when you were a child?'

The large lost SOUL dropped its spear. It bent down and picked it up.

'Alphys! What's your favourite anime?' Percy laughed.

The small lost SOUL started to sweat, it looked like it was holding back rom giving an enormous answer.

'Undyne! You are strong! You are supportive! I'm sorry for what I did to you!' Thomas yelled.

The lost SOUL dropped to its knees.

'Alphys! We'll continue to support you no matter what! Especially Undyne!'

The small lost SOUL shook its head.

Suddenly, the memories were coming back!

'Well, some humans are okay, I guess!' Undyne winked at the children.

'N-no! My friends like me! A-And... And I like you too!' Alphys smiled.

'Cissy! Cody!' We need you two now!' Chara cried. 'You're the last ones!'

The lost SOULs stood there. One wore a pair of small ballet shoes. The other wore a pair of boxing gloves.

'I'm not even important to you guys at all...' The older lost SOUL whispered.

'You always yell at me! You hate me!' The younger lost SOUL cried.

The lost SOULs kicked and punched at everyone.

'Cissy! You are just every bit as important to us as everyone else!' Fiona cried. 'Remember when you solved the noughts and crosses puzzles in Snowdin?'

The older lost SOUL put her foot on the ground and stepped back slightly.

'Cody! You always fought to protect us, no matter what! You helped us spot things we didn't! You helped us prepare for dangers ahead!' Thomas shouted.

The younger lost SOUL's fist wavered in front of Frisk's face.

'Cissy! You are the big sister I wish I had!' Percy yelled. 'Stay true to yourself!'

'Cody! I wish I could be as strong and brave as you!' Aurora squealed.

Suddenly, the memories came flooding back!

'You know, we do make a great team, sis.' Cody smiled at his older sister.

'We sure do. Come here!' Cissy replied, pulling her brother in for a noogie.

'That's everyone!' Toriel shouted. 'But wait...'

'We're not finished yet.' Asgore nodded at Chara and Frisk.

'There's still one person who needs to saved.' Chara smiled and put their hand in Frisk's.

'But who?' Frisk asked. Suddenly, they realised. They reached out and called their name.

'Huh?' Asriel looked shocked. 'What are you doing?'

Everything went white.


	33. His Theme

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara is finally reunited with their brother. But he cannot stay long. He still has one job to do, and it will take all his strength. What will become of the young goat?

Fallen down. Screams for help. A little whit goat popped its head from behind a pillar. It picked up the fallen human. It brought the human back to its home. The king and queen smiled down at Asriel and his new friend. Chara looked up and their new parents.

All was well.

*

'Chara...' Asriel reappeared, still in his godly form. He looked down sadly, as if here trying not to cry. 'Do you know why I fight to keep you around?'

Chara and Frisk looked at each other, then nodded at Asriel.

'It's because...' Asriel said to Frisk. 'Because you're the only one who still understands me. You're the only one who's any fun to play with anymore!'

Frisk smiled up at Asriel.

'Well... no. That's not just it. It's because I care about you so much. More than anyone else! I'm not ready to say goodbye to someone like you again!' Asriel fought back tears. 'So please, stop doing this, and just let me win!' Asriel summoned all his remaining power, and fired dual lasers and Frisk. 'Stop it!'

Frisk hung on.

'Stop it!' Asriel cried, tears streaming down his face. 'Stop it now!' Asriel stopped. He breathed heavily. 'Chara... I'm so alone.... Chara....' He started to fade away. 'I'm so afraid... Chara...' Only his face was visible. 'Chara... I...'

He vanished. Only Frisk remained. Asriel reappeared, this time in his small goat form.

'I'm so sorry.' He whispered through tears. He sniffed. 'I always was a crybaby, wasn't I Chara?' He laughed. Frisk smiled patiently at him. 'I know. You're not actually Chara, are you? No. Chara's been gone for a long time.' He paused. 'W-what... is your name?'

'Frisk.'

'Frisk? Th... that's a nice name.' He smiled.

'I'm right here, Asriel.' Chara said from behind him.

'Chara? Chara!' Asriel ran over and tried to hug his deceased sibling, but phased right through. 'Chara I-'

'It's ok Asriel. It wasn't your fault. It was wrong of me to ask so much of you.'

'No. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not stopping you.' Asriel sighed and turned back to Frisk. 'Frisk, I'm also sorry for what I did. As a flower, I lacked compassion! I couldn't feel any sort of love. I did so many horrible things. I hurt you. All of you.'

'I forgive you, Asriel.' Frisk smiled at his new friend.

'Wha-what? Come on, you're gonna make me cry again!' He sniffed again. 'Thanks to all these SOULs inside of me, I now not only have my own compassion back, but I can feel everyone monster's emotions too! And your friends!' He looked down at his chest and smiled. 'They all care about each other so much.' He looked back up. 'And they care about you too, Frisk. I wish I could tell you how much they care about you. Alphys, Undyne, Sans, Papyrus, Toriel.' He laughed. 'Monsters are weird. Even though they barely know you, it's like they all really love you.'

'Asriel...' Chara reached out his hand towards their brother.

'I know. Right now, I can feel everyone's heart beating as one. They're all burning with the same desire.' Asriel turned to Chara and smiled.

'Come on Asriel, let's finish what we started. It's time for monsters...'

'To finally go free.'

Chara stepped back. Asriel rose up into the air. He started chanting something incoherent, and the SOULs glow emanated from his body. The 6 SOULs of Frisk's friends circled around Asriel. Several hundred white SOULs, of all the monsters, circled around him too.

'CRACK!' The barrier was destroyed.

Asriel descended back down to the ground. Frisk walked over to him. 'Frisk...' Asriel said sadly. 'I have to go now. Without the power of the SOULs inside me, I can't maintain this form. Before long, I'll turn back into a flower.' Asriel turned around. 'Frisk, it's best if you just forget about me, okay? Go be with the one's you love.'

Frisk shook their head. They walked over to Asriel and hugged them tightly.

'Wha-' Asriel was taken aback, but then returned the hug. 'Ha... ha...' He sobbed, tears leaking onto Frisk's shoulder. 'I don't want to let go.' Asriel pushed Frisk off and stepped back.

'Well... my time's running out.' He sighed. 'Frisk... Chara... Thank you both. So much. In future, if you see “me”, don't think of it as me, okay? Just remember me as...' He sniffed. 'Someone who was your friend for a little while.' He turned around. 'Well, I have to go now.' He stopped. 'Oh and Chara?'

'Yes?'

'Take care of Mom and Dad for me, okay?'

'I will.' Chara tried hard not to cry.

And with that, Asriel smiled, and walked away.


	34. Reunited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Monsters are free. The barrier is destroyed, and no-one had to die.

'Frisk!' Toriel cried. 'This is all just a bad dream! Please wake up!'

Frisk opened their eyes and sat up.

'Oh thank goodness you're awake! We were so worried about you!' Toriel put her hand over her SOUL and exhaled.

'Yeah! Any longer and I would have freaked out! Tell us next time you take a nap, okay?' Undyne laughed.

'Yeah. You made Papyrus cry like a littly baby.' Sans chuckled and nudged his brother.

'WHAT? No! I didn't cry! I don't cry!' Papyrus protested, shoving his brother back. 'I just... caught something in my eye.'

'What did you catch?' Sans giggled.

'TEARS!' Papyrus cried, a single tear rolling down his cheekbone.

The human children all giggled.

'Well the important thing now is that the human is alright.' Asgore smiled and put his hand on Frisk's shoulder. 'Come! Would you like a cup of tea? It'll make you feel better.'

'Erm...' Toriel hesitated, not allowing Asgore to have the upper hand. 'Why don't we give Frisk some space first?' She pulled the child off Asgore. 'They must be very exhausted. But from what, I am not certain. There was a flower, and everything went white.' She smiled. 'But the barrier is open now. When you are ready, we will follow you out of the underground. But first, do you want to say goodbye to all of your wonderful friends?'

Frisk turned to their human friends and smiled. 'I'm sure there's a lot to catch up on.' Frisk winked at Fiona, who looked shocked.

'You can speak?!' Fiona cried. 'Since when?'

Frisk shrugged. 'No-one will ever believe you.' They winked at her, and made a zip motion across their lips. Chara laughed.

'Hey Papyrus! Perhaps one day we could train together?' Cody demonstrated his punches to the air. 'It'll be fun!'

'Sounds wonderful!' Papyrus beamed. 'Hey Asgore, how about making me a member of the Royal Guard?'

Undyne grimaced.

'Well Papyrus...' Asgore said. 'Now that the war is over, we won't need the Royal Guard anymore.

'WHAT?!' Papyrus screamed. 'YOU MEAN, THE HUMANS TRAVELLED ALL THAT WAY, AND I'M STILL NOT A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD?' He sighed. 'Truly this is the worst possible ending.'

Cissy laughed. Cody looked disappointed.

'Hello Aurora.' Toriel smiled at Aurora, who had proceeded to hug Toriel's knees. 'Look at this!' She pulled out her cellphone and handed it to Aurora, who started pressing random buttons excitedly. 'Alphys upgraded my phone. I'm having a lot of fun with this new texting feature.' She turned to Sans. 'Hey Sans, “check out” this one.' She winked at him.

'Oh man, Tori. That's brutal.'

'You two are such dorks. YOU TWO ARE TWO FEET AWAY FROM EACH OTHER!' Papyrus cried. 'Why are you texting?'

'Worry not, Papyrus. We are texting for a very good reason.' Toriel winked at Sans.

'And why is that?' Papyrus narrowed her eyes at the former queen.

'Well...' Sans winked at Toriel. 'Because we're huge dorks.'

'Oh! Do not say that Sans! You are not a dork. You're may of a...' She smirked. 'Bonehead!'

'Ha! These puns are less funny coming from her!' Papyrus smiled and shook his head.

'Then why are you smiling?' Sans teased.

'It's a pity smile!'

The children all laughed.

'So, Alphys. What do you want to do now that we're all free?' Undyne put a hand on her girlfriend's shoulder. 'We have the whole world to explore now.'

'Well of course I'm going to go out and...' Alphys stopped. 'No. I should be honest. I'M GOING TO STAY INSIDE AND WATCH ANIME LIKE A TOTAL LOSER!' She giggled.

'THREE CHEERS FOR BEING LOSERS!' Papyrus whooped.

'HURRAY!' Everyone shouted.

Thomas grabbed Percy and kissed him.

Fiona started hitting Cissy on the shoulder excitedly at the sight.

'Ha ha! Yeah. Alphys has the right idea. Losing to the humans is the best thing that's ever happened to me. Even if I lost my eye for a bit.' She looked at Asgore, who was shuffling awkwardly. 'What is it, Asgore?'

'Um... What's an... anime?'

'OH MY GOD! HOW COU-' Alphys shook her head. 'Guys, help me out here.' She whispered to Cissy and Percy. 'You see, it's like a cartoon... but with...' She looked to them for help.

'With swords.' Cissy said.

'With guns.' Percy said at the same time.

'Oh! So it's like a cartoon...' Asgore whispered slowly, trying to process it. 'But with swords? And Guns?' He laughed. 'Golly! That sounds neato!' He looked at Alphys. 'Where is this, where can I see the anime?'

'H-hold on... I think I might have some on my phone... Here!' She handed her phone to Asgore. 'Wait! Hold on that's the wrong... picture...' She started sweating.

'Oh! Well! Were those two robots...' Asgore started to say.

'Kissing?' Undyne smirked slyly and nudged Alphys.

'Golly! Technology sure is something, isn't it?' Asgore said nervously, confused.

'Yeah! It sure is. Ahehe...' Alphys giggled nervously. She turned to Fiona. 'Hey... um... please. You gotta tell me. Those two over there...' She pointed to Percy and Thomas, who were holding hands and smiling at each other. 'How long have they been going out?'

'Like... five minutes.' Fiona laughed.

'REALLY???' Alphys shrieked with laughter.

'Wow! Thomcy. It's quickly becoming my number one ship of all time!' She hesitated.

'And um... do you think... Toriel and Asgore... are ever gonna get back together?'  
Fiona shook her head sadly.

'Yeah. Me neither. It sucks. But a woman can dream, right?' She nudged Fiona. 'And write fanfiction. A LOT of fanfiction.' She laughed, and Fiona couldn't help but laugh too.

'Hey Alphys...' Chara nervously asked. 'Could you um... when we get back to the surface... Could you make me a new body?' They floated up and down excitedly. 'I think I'm fully reformed, and finally ready to become corporeal again.'

'I'd love to!' Alphys whooped. 'It's about time I did something again.'

'I think that's enough dilly-dallying.' Undyne said, taking Alphys' hand in hers. 'Let's leave this dump!'

Everyone followed Frisk through the barrier and out of the underground.

'Wow...' Alphys breathed. The sun was beginning to rise up over the eastern horizon. 'It looks way better than on TV.

'You guys live with this?' Undyne asked the humans. 'This is so cool! The sun feels so nice! I really feel alive!'

'Hey Sans, what's that giant yellow ball?' Papyrus asked.

'We call that, “the sun”, my friend.'

'Wowie! I can't believe I'm finally meeting the sun!'

'I could stand here and watch this for hours.' Asgore smiled, a single tear rolled down his cheek.

'Yes. It is beautiful, is it not?' Toriel smiled. 'But we really must think of what happens next.

'Oh. Hmm. Yes. Right.' Asgore shook his head out of his trance, and turned to Frisk. 'Frisk, I need to ask you something. Will you be ambassador of the monsters to the humans?'

Frisk smiled up at Asgore and nodded.

'Yes! Frisk will be the best ambassador! And I will be the best mascot!' Papyrus cried, putting his hand on his chest. 'I'll go make a good first impression!' Papyrus took off down the path towards the village of the humans.

'Welp, someone's gotta keep him out of trouble. See you, guys.' Sans smiled and walked off, in the opposite direction, as usual.

'Ugh! Do I have to do everything?' Undyne laughed. 'PAPYRUS WAIT!' Undyne ran off to catch up with Papyrus.

'Undyne wait!' Alphys followed her, leaving Toriel, Asgore, and the children.

'Alphys, hold up!' Chara floated after her.

'Whoops.' Asgore said, looking at Toriel. The children all winced at the awkwardness. 'Should I... do something? Or...'

Toriel stared daggers at Asgore, and said nothing. Asgore shivered.

'Welp, gotta go!' Asgore took off.

'It seems as if everyone is quite eager to set off.' Toriel said to the children, still looking at the sunrise. 'My children, you all came from this world, did you not?'

They all nodded.

'That must mean you have a place to go.' Toriel walked off down the path. 'Well, I won't keep you.'

'Toriel! Wait!' Fiona yelled. Toriel turned around. 'Where will you go?'

'I'm sure I will find a place. We'll have a house built up in no time.'

'Come stay with us!' Fiona gathered in all the children. 'While you build your house, of course.'

'Oh! My children!' Toriel laughed. 'If you had said that earlier, none of this would have happened. I'm so glad you took such a long time to change your mind.' She grabbed Aurora's hand. 'Come! Everyone is waiting for us!'

And with that, the children all joined hands, and followed Toriel down Mt. Ebbot and back home to the village of the humans.

Once again, humans and monsters ruled over earth in harmony.


End file.
